


Tragedy + Time

by mockingbirb



Series: Tragedy + Time [1]
Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/M, Time Travel, Zaun, adding characters as they pop up, could have kinda been canon, get some tea and settle down kids - this is going to be a long one, honestly guys: mature topics but not spoiling here, maybe I went a little overboard, tying Ekko's lore together, very dramatic, written out of pure love for Ekko
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2016-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-14 12:00:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 29
Words: 64,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4563837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mockingbirb/pseuds/mockingbirb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ekko saves a girl on the streets of Zaun from a beating up, things quickly get out of hand. His life is turned upside-down and trying to get her and and him out of everything alive is starting to look like a huge challenge. He really has no idea how he got stuck in this mess and just how it got him a place at the League.<br/>Just lots and lots! of lovely Ekko [work complete]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I do my own stunts.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an epic story about Ekko, who simply deserves way more love, and some other characters that are mainly there to create a suspenseful story.  
> Also, this story is most definitely only suited for mature readers, so please keep that in mind.
> 
> Any sort of feedback is highly HIGHLY appreciated and will earn you my eternal gratitude.  
> Also: "ZAAAUUUUUUN!"

"Are you ok? No broken bones or anything?"  


It took her a moment to coordinate mind and limbs but after a few seconds she was able to test legs and arms for injuries. Nothing too painful. Seemed fine so far.  
She rubbed her eyes to get out some of the dirt and blinked at the outstretched hand before her. It belonged to what could only be described as a scrawny teenage boy with a white Mohawk. He also had the shape of an hourglass on his face, painted in white on his dark skin. How funny, she thought. He got more style than most kids on these streets, rather plain.  
"Yeah sure. All good.", she pulled herself up with his hand and brushed the dirt off her clothes. "May I ask what happened?"  
"Oh, of course.", scrawny-boy said and scratched the back of his head. "I saw you getting in a fight with that big guy over there." He pointed to somewhere to her left and she turned her head to follow his gesture.

Laying on the ground was the body of an enormous bald man. Both of his arms were amputated and replaced by artificial hextech limbs, so were his eyes. Yep, she must have faced off against that guy, if having been unconscious was anything to go by. She vaguely remembered him blocking the entire alleyway off and looming over her menacingly. The girl had not really been impressed by the muscle, there were scarier things around in Zaun, but the small fight that had followed clearly had her at a disadvantage. He had gotten a straight kick in pretty quickly and the heavy boot had hit her square in the chest. Hitting the ground must have knocked her out. Now that she was thinking about it, her ribs ached a little and she could practically feel the bump at the back of her head coming on.  
"So you jumped in like a knight in shiny armour to safe the damsel in distress.", she summed up.  
He smiled awkwardly and shrugged. "I don't like bullies."  
"I see...", the girl murmured and rubbed at her chest. Her breathing felt a little off and something poked at her fingers from underneath the blue jumpsuit. Her eyes widened in horror.  
"..oh no.", she whispered.  
"What is? Broke a rib after all?", the boy leaned over and gave her a worried look.  
Hastily she started unbuttoning the front of her suit and even more hastily hourglas-boy retreated to a safer distance. Definitely teenage.  
Unbelieving, she stared at the damaged device on her chest. A few connecting wires had been pulled out of the flesh. They were what must have been poking out.  
"He broke my thing!", she screamed. "He broke it, how… What… HOW…"  
"I came in a little too late. Sorry." Hourglass-boy put a hand on the girls shoulder, while pointedly not looking at her. "Thing... You said? What does it do?"  
"It's... Well, it's important ok?… Would have been anyways…" She was still trying to assess the damage done properly when another thought crossed her mind. "Wait. How DID you turn up at that very convenient time?" She lifted her gaze to scrutinise her saviour again. The sign on his face and the funny looking device on his back rang a distant bell on what felt like the very far side of her brain. Then it clicked.  
"You're that Ekko-kid people are talking about! The one that supposedly never loses a fight?! Who meddles with time!?" Now it was her turn to be all up in his face. The leaning forward made the blue jumpsuit slip off of one of her shoulders which she didn't notice and he tried hard not to.  
"Yep. That's me", Ekko replied, leaning back a little. "I.. I saw you start fighting so I turned on the z-drive just in case. When you got beat up pretty badly I jumped in but I couldn't stop it any earlier. Is… is it hard to repair?'  
She looked down at herself again and then back up.  
"It's manageable." A sigh. "WAIT. You build this thing yourself right? That time-winder z-drive. So you have some tools and a place to work at, right? Right?"  
Ekko just nodded.  
"Can I use them? It won't take long!"  
Again she had moved in so far that their noses were close to touching. Damn, did that girl even know what personal space was?  
"S-Sure thing.", Ekko replied and mentally kicked himself. It was never a good idea to show people in Zaun where you lived. It could have been a scam, it... she took him by the hand and dragged him off down the street.  
"Hey. That's the wrong direction!"

* * *

Ekko really had no idea what he had gotten himself into. Just who was this girl that was sitting at HIS workbench, using HIS tools to fix her thing (he had found out that "thing" was the official name for the small device she had attached to between her… not that he had been staring or anything) and what did the thing DO?!  
When they entered his workshop-home, she straight away unbutton her blue jumpsuit yet again. This time he had been prepared and had pointedly looked away, mostly.  
Now she was sitting with her back to him, suit still peeled down to her waist for easy access to "the thing". Her ashy blond hair was up in a high ponytail, revealing that a) she had the lower half of her hair shaved short up to her below her ears and that b) she had not been wearing anything underneath.  
"So..", Ekko said in an awkward attempt to distract himself.  
"Hmh?" came the muffled reply.  
"You never told me your name?"  
"Ah. Wigh. I'n Ungeen."  
"Could you please take my screwdriver out of your mouth?"  
"Shuw… eh. sure I mean. Call me Undine. Thanks again for saving me."  
"Don't worry about it.", Ekko responded automatically. If all you did was run around trying to stop everybody from dying you soon stopped worrying about their gratitude.  
"And how exactly could the… your thing have saved you? I still have no idea what it does.", he inquired further.  
It took her a little to respond. The silence was filled with the protesting sounds of metal pieces scraping against each other and eventually some more organic noised that Ekko didn't want to think about too closely. Then, when all noises had stopped she said: "It makes me able to flicker." from behind him.

Ekko spun around, hands already raised to defend himself. So it was a scam after all… yet she stood calmly in front of him, looking him straight in the eye. "You distort time, I distort space."  
The thing was back in her chest, the skin still red where she had had to reconnect the wiring. It was vibrating softly with her heartbeat.  
"But where you just make time forget about you in one time line and you yourself jump to the next, I use my body's own energy to infuse the particles I'm made out of. The more energy, the faster they move, and so I can move them to a different location."  
She flickered again, reappeared by the worktop and started to put things back into order."But I can't go far because it gets to hard to keep check of all the particles and since it's all fuelled by my body's energy resources, I have to eat lots." She chuckled at the thought and turned around to look at him. "But I also get to eat lots without having to worry about weight." Hands on her hip, she beamed, oddly proud.  
The girl… Undine sure was lean and skinny. Pretty much all over, though not as bad as Jinx. He'd give her a 6/10. Oh shoot, what the hell!

"Can you please put your thing back on?", Ekko pleaded, looking away again.  
"But I just fixed it and put it back... oh OH." She blushed profoundly and quickly turned away. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't even realise... that must have been uncomfortable for you."  
"No, no!", Ekko cut in. And the realised himself just how wrong it must have sounded. "Uh.. that's not what I meant at all! I... I.."  
She gave another little laugh that made her shoulders tremble and Ekko found himself wondering if the end of her ponytail tickled where it danced between her shoulder blades.  
"So, now that we've both been properly embarrassed, how about we just leave it at that?"  
"Right.. ehrm, so, do you know why that guy decided to pick a fight with you?"

Now, her shoulders stiffened visibly under her jumpsuit and her hands dropped from where they had been doing up the last button. Ekko wasn't sure if she didn't want to or for some reason simply couldn't answer straight out but some sort of conflict was clearly displayed in her stance.  
As if to come to her rescue though, the door swung open and bounced of the wall, sending some plaster flying. In the doorway stood a boy with safety glasses strapped around his head, panting for breath.  
"Ekko.", he wheezed. "Ekko… huff… need you… hhh – Mrs. Jefferson's… f-fire."  
Before the little boy had even finished saying the name, Ekko was pulling the handle on his z-drive and sprinting out the door. Undine was hot on his heels, shouting for the little boy to stay behind.  
"The name is Ajuna, not little boy! And I'm nearly 13!", he called after them.

* * *

Undine followed the trail of blue light that in turn followed Ekko like a comet's tail. It left a tingly feeling on the skin, but now was not the time to think about that. Ajuna had come running because something… somebody was still inside the burning building. Even the smart Ekko couldn't prevent the fire any more. Which meant they would have to go inside to get whomever out.

Even from further away one could feel the heat of the flames and hear the desperate cries of Mrs. Jefferson.  
"My little girl!", she wailed. "My Estee is still inside! My poor Estee!?"  
Ekko grabbed her by the collar before the mother's sobbing got out of hand and she went into shock.  
"MISS.", he said as calmly as he could. "Where did you last see her. Where was Estee?" No reaction.  
"You need to tell me!"  
"I-I don't know, she was... pl-playing somewhere, and I – I was cooking.. my girl!" Tears were running down the Ladies cheeks and she started shaking like a leaf.  
"I'll find her!", Ekko said, face set in grim determination.  
"No, WE will."  
The white haired boy turned around in surprise and opened his mouth to say something to her but Undine quickly cut him off.  
"You will need me."

"Well then, here's the plan.", Ekko had dragged Undine of to the side for a second, talking quietly and fast. He'd rather be safe then sorry and they had enough time on their hands if necessary. "The house is big and we will have to search through all of it. Also, doors and windows will be jammed, ways blocked, air smoky. We'll have to get you something to cover nose and mouth. Do not take that off, no matter how restricting it feels."

"You want me to flicker us in, right?", she asked, grabbing a cloth from a near bystander's hand without bothering to ask. Ekko nodded and pulled up his red scarf over his nose.  
"Ok.", Undine said. "I'll get us inside. Be ready to take us back if we land inside a table or something."  
Ekko went on, looking for water to drench their makeshift masks with and snatching some child's waterbottle: "We'll search the room and get the girl out if we find her. I'd we don't, I'll have to turn back time and we start over again from my apartment. But you will not remember what happened. I'll fill you in on the way and then we try a different room of the house. I don't know, maybe I could include you in the jump, but it'd be tiring. Would you have the energy to flicker us in and out 80times if needed?"  
Undine looked a little shocked. "Never, no. Even half of that'd kill me."  
"Well, either way you should always have full strength like this. Just be careful, though."  
He started off towards the burning building, but Undine grabbed his hand from behind. He stopped and turned around.  
"Let me do the searching once we're inside.", she begged. "You won't be able to recover in between tries. Just… breath as little as possible! Ok?"  
Ekko looked a little bit overwhelmed but immediately mentally kicked himself. Time was not his to waste on anything. Still, Undine's worry for him made him feel warm inside.  
He gave a decisive nod and pulled the dripping wet cloth he had prepared in the meantime over his face. "Ready."

Undine took his hand again and dragged him as close to the building as they could get.  
"I'll start with the room bottom front left.", she said and hugged him close to her chest. Ekko could feel the soft vibration of the thing through his clothes, out of beat with the sound of his own heart. He couldn't help but smile a little at how they were nearly perfectly the same height. Suddenly, there was a yanking sensation on the nape of his neck, an overall hot pressure, then emptiness.  
Before he could even start to think about it, the blasting heat of the fire hit him like a solid wall and he might have stumbled, where it not for Undine's arms still holding him close.  
They were in the kitchen and rapidly started checking all the cupboards, shouting Estee's name in hopes of an answer, under the table, in the hallway. Nothing.

**Rewind #1**  
"You took us to the kitchen first.", Ekko pressed out between his teeth while running. He handed Undine a kitchen-towel he had grabbed at home. "The fire seemed to come from the living room behind it, I think the girl Estee would have tried to get away from the heat, but we should check anyway."  
The burning building came into view and Undine took his hand again, pulling him forward in full speed.  
"Ok.", she said. " Jump!"  
And they jumped, right into the window. But before they hit the glass, Ekko felt her arms wrap around him again and the weird sensation of the flickering and they were standing in the livingroom-inferno.  
No Estee.

**Rewind #2**  
"We have to go up to the second floor now. Can you do that in one jump?"  
"Yeah, but third floor will require stopping on the second. Same as rooms up in the back. LET'S GO!"  
Flickering, the master bedroom, burning curtains. No Estee.

**Rewind #3**  
"Second floor, back right!"  
"Ok."  
This time too flickers, Undine staggered a little.  
"Two people is so much harder than only me..", she choked out but immediately started looking for the girl with determination set on her face.  
This was a child's bedroom and it took them a while to look into the boxes and corners. No girl.

**Rewind #8**  
It took a few tries to get to the guest room, because the floor was caving in already. No Estee.

**Rewind #11**  
"Top floor.", Ekko coughed. His lungs were on fire and his head was feeling dizzy from all the smoke and running. He had an oozing burn on his left arm but thankfully Undine noticed and looped hers underneath instead of over. Two flickers.  
Nobody.

**Rewind #15**  
"We have to find her soon, or you'll get carbon-monoxide poisoning!"  
"We have to find her, no matter what!", Ekko bit back.

**Rewind # 17**  
Retrying the kitchen.  
"Estee, where are you! We're here to save you, take you back to your Mum!", Undine screamed at the top of her lungs. Ekko could barely whisper any more.

**Rewind # 19**  
The living room.  
"Estee, you brat, this is not the time for hide and seek!"

**Rewind #20**  
The child's bedroom.  
"Estee!"

**Rewind #23**  
The guest room.  
" ESTEEE!"  
A sob from somewhere.  
"She has to be here. ESTEEE! Where are you!"  
Ekko tried to shout for her too but only a croak came out. The cloth in front of his mouth was suffocating him.  
"Estee!", Undine screamed again. She rammed her shoulder to the door from the guest room to unhinge it. It had gotten stuck due to the heat and metal parts were starting to melt. The sobbing grew louder, but so did the creaking of the floor and wooden walls. Ekko could barely hear her crying out to the girl over the crackling of the flames.  
"ESTEE!"  
The door slammed down in the other side, onto the sleeve of a heavy black coat. It belonged to a piece of clothing, stuffed into the small space underneath the stairs. Undine pulled at the sleeve and finally the tiny girl wrapped inside it fell out of the cranny under the stairs. She pressed the childto her body. Ekko felt the weight of a world drop from his shoulders. Finally. They had found her.  
Undine said something, but Ekko could barely make out the movement of her lips over the wavering heat.  
Just as she stood up the wall behind her get gave away and the ceiling of the top floor came crashing down. Undine didn't notice at all over the ongoing noise. She was crying happy tears that washed away the soot on her cheeks in two streaks. She turned to smile at Ekko when the first burning wooden board connected with her head.  
The look on her face was the last thing Ekko saw before he pulled the handle on his z-drive.

**Rewind#24**  
"Second floor hallway.. haah... Under stairs", Ekko managed before he started coughing.  
They half ran half stumbled towards the house and flickered twice. This time Undine found the girl instantly and pulling the child and Ekko into her arms, flickered them back out into safety. They reappeared a meter above the street, fell down and collapsed in a panting and coughing tangle of limbs.

* * *

Half an hour later found Ekko sitting propped up against a wall. Undine had made Ajuna, who had just arrived, fight off all the "thank you"'s and "forever grateful"'s from relatives of Estee and even bystanders. So far he was doing quiet well as a PR-manager. She herself sat next to Ekko, legs sprawled out in front of her, water bottle in hand. She had repeatedly forced the boy to have some sips between his coughing fits and he was now breathing with only a slight rasp still to it. This was quiet an improvement to when he had tried to cough his entire lungs up earlier; bending over on his knees and no soothing back-rubs and no amount of water or fresh air had seemed to help.

Even with the girl safely returned to her mother's arms the place was as busy and loud as ever with fire fighters trying to prevent the flames from spreading to any of the factory buildings (especially those with explosives in). But the two of them heard none of it in their little bubble of exhaustion. Silence lingered between them. Sitting with their shoulders touching, because neither wanted to feel alone nor had the strength to keep themselves upright at that moment.

Undine felt like she needed to say something, not because the silence was uncomfortable, but rather because the words wanted to spill out of her. They seemed to get stuck in her throat though, and after a while she swallowed the feeling she couldn't quiet put her finger on alongside with the words. Soon Ekko's head dropped onto her shoulder. His hair was tickling her ear but she didn't dare to move and wake him up. After a few minutes his breathing had evened out and he didn't wake up when Undine picked him up and quietly left.

The route from the burning house back to his flat wasn't that long but sprinting it all these times must have worn him out. Every step she took with the sleeping boy on her back filled Undine more and more with the feeling from earlier. Her heart felt heavy, her chest tight, as she dragged her feet along the dirt and stone alleyways.

* * *

It was already dark when Ekko woke up.

His entire body hurt. His lungs ached, there was a hammering pain in his head, his legs were sore and his left arm with the burn was itching terribly. He breathed in sharply when he tried to sit up, which sent him into a terribly coughing fit. When he bent over the side of his bed with the cramps he noticed that he was ON HIS BED and that his shoes were neatly lined up next to it. There was also a glass of water on his bedside table which he quickly downed to help with the cough. A more thorough check of the current situation also revealed that he was only in his baggy trousers and underneath the blanket to keep him warm. A bandage had been wrapped around the burn on his left arm. It must have been cleaned and whatnot, because by the itch of it, it was healing well.

His hair was all over the place AND in his eyes so he just stuck most of it behind his right ear and dragged himself into the dark living room. He flicked on the light and turned it off straight away when his head burst into pain again. In the solid dark left behind by the shock and the lack of actual outside moonlight and street lamps he reached the worktop that took up most of the space simply by memory and found a simple dinner of rice and fried vegetables sitting on it. It was already cold. He felt around some more but could only find a spoon with all of his tools still littered about. No note, no letter. No sign that Undine had brought him here, except for the food.

He sat down alone in the dark and ate in silence.


	2. I hate being responsible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I recommend _Austin Wintory - OST Journey_ to go with this one. Or anything really.

I recommend _Austin Wintory - OST Journey_ to go with this one. Or anything really.

* * *

It was nearly two weeks later that he saw her again.

The encounter itself was rather funny if not creepy. The circumstances however were not.

One morning at around 4 pm Undine knocked on his living room window where he had fallen asleep at his workbench. He only nearly fell off his stool, mainly because his neck was so stiff from sleeping with his head on the worktop that he couldn't move enough yet.

He rubbed his sore and swollen eyes and with a bit of effort opened the rusty old window.

The waiting girl hopped down from the small window sill and straightened up.

Their eyes locked in the dark, and they stood still for what felt like an eternity, the cold air from the open window swirling around them.

Finally Undine broke the silence.

"I heard about... ",her voice gave in and she tried again. "I heard about Ajuna. I'm sorry. Really."

Ekko just turned around and sat down again.

"I don't wanna talk about it right now.", he said.

"That's ok, I understand."

Undine lightly placed a hand on his shoulder. It was trembling slightly.

"Ekko.", she said quietly.

"Ekko." Again, more urgent this time. "Please come with me. There is something I want you to... You should see... I.. I want to show you something."

He gave no response.

"Please just come with me for now."

* * *

They walked in silence through empty alleys and down deserted streets. This was not really the time to be out and about in Zaun, you had to be careful. But neither of them felt like small talk anyway.

Ajuna had been killed a mere two days ago.

Ekko still hadn't really gotten over the shock yet. Deep down, he felt like it was HIS fault and the guilt and loss were eating away at him. The first day he had mainly spent crying, it just wouldn't stop. The day after, this very day, he didn't even have the energy to cry any more. He had started fixing the z-drive, finished and just randomly tightened some screws for the rest of the day, simply to keep his hands busy. He must have fallen asleep at some point.

There were things after all that even he didn't have enough time for, he thought bitterly. Never enough time to grieve.

Despite his dark brooding, the walking cleared his mind. Simply putting one foot in front of the other eased the strain on his heart. After a few minutes he had calmed down enough to notice for the first time that he was clinging to Undine's hand. Resisting the first reflex to just drop it instantly, he instead savoured the warm that went out from it and spread up all the way into his shoulder. Ekko was already grudgingly thankful for having been dragged outside at this point. But Undine had said she wanted to show him something? Whatever it was, she was leading him there and if nothing else, not having to make any decisions himself for a while was a relief.

* * *

It took them a total of 19minutes to get to where Undine had been headed. The last few meters had been a mix of steep alleys and stairs and both nightly wanderers were a little out of breath by the end of the walk.

"This is where you wanted to come to?", Ekko asked, turning to view the surroundings. Just a little square surrounded by small houses on one side and wasteland going downhill on the other.

"Haha, not quiet. This plaza on its own is not very entertaining, I do admit.", Undine chuckled. "No, I wanted to show you something else, Ekko."

The way she said his name made him shudder a little. Without noticing, she continued. "Turn on your z-drive. We will need it in a bit and I… say, do you think, you can take me with you?"

"Why would you want that?", he asked surprised. "It would just make you age a few extra seconds or minutes. There's no real gain in it, for you."

"It's because I don't want to forget.", she said quietly. "Even though it's a lot more like: never having known in the first place. So, can you?"

"I think so. Never tried it. It has to be similar to your thing, touch all travellers somehow and I must want to take you with me. The reach is limited and it involves a certain intentionality.", he shrugged.

So she pulled the strap of his z-drive up and over her shoulder and adjusted it to hang next to their hips. He pulled the handle and the blue glow enveloped them.

They were nearly uncomfortably close now, already standing together. Their bodies were touching. But now Undine wrapped her arms around his waist, like she had done so many times in front of the burning house (only one of which she could remember) and pulled him even closer. This time it felt a lot more intimate.

Ekko swallowed hard. And then hoped she hadn't noticed. This was for sure not the first time he'd been this close to a girl, but he'd never felt nervous about it. Maybe he had for his first kiss.

But to hell with it, he was feeling shite and needed a hug. Ekko lifted his arms and placed them around her shoulders, pulling Undine in even closer. He buried his face at the nape of her neck, breathing in the clean smell of her skin. God, this was a mile better than bawling his eyes out.

Undine started to lightly trace up and down his spine. Instantly he felt his throat tighten like he was about to cry again at the warm gesture. But thankfully Undine chose this very moment inhale deeply and start flickering. Ekko kept his head on her shoulder and his eyes closed. He didn't know if there was something cool to be seen during flickering but the nauseating experience itself suggested a view that would make him even more… well… he guessed you could call it motion-sick.

They were flickering repeatedly. Ekko counted five… six … seven times until Undine whispered "Look up." into his ear.

Ekko lifted his head and opened his eyes just as they flickered another time. Apparently there were no special effects at all. Meh, disappointment.

The next moment, his jaw dropped in surprise, shock, awe - he couldn't decide. They were currently at least 15 meter above the ground, high in the air above Zaun and it's smog clouds. They were also slowly accelerating downwards. Ekko was about to panic, but Undine just flickered them back up.

Suddenly light pierced his eyes.

The first rays of sunlight were appearing just above the horizon.

The air in Zaun was so terribly polluted that actual unfiltered sunlight rarely touched the ground. Ekko had never thought of sunlight as something important or necessary but with the first bright rays inching their way upwards and onto this world it looked like magic. The crooked factories with their chimneys and small towers, barely poking out from the smog, were bather in red, gold and orange. He noticed a few lights in houses going on underneath them, people getting ready to go about their everyday lives.

The wind up here was fresh and cold, regardless of the warm light on their faces. Unconsciously he held Undine even tighter, his breath caught in his throat.

"This.. this is..", he stammered.

"This, Ekko, is what you strive to protect every single day.", the girl in his arms whispered. Her embrace had lost a lot of its former strength but Ekko was too absorbed in the view to notice. "Ajuna fought with you, you know. He'd never want to see you give up. Especially not because of a bloody Piltie." He fought hard to suppress a sob, instead just nodded.

The white haired boy had lost all sense of time [hah, pun intended] staring at this – HIS – city looking this beautiful for once. He faintly recalled feeling the yanking sensation of flickering a couple of times, maybe another six. All in all, that was quiet a lot actually. As soon as he realized this, he started to pick up on a faint voice in his ear.

"Ek.. ko - can't… do it… agai..!", Undine breathed out. And this time the downwards acceleration was not stopped and they did not reappear at the highest spot as before. Ekko's stomach seemed to stay behind though.

He turned his head to look at the girl in his arms. Undine's face was ghostly pale and she seemed unable to support the weight of her own head any more. It was rolling back and forth with the fall. Here hands were rapidly losing their grip on his shirt, so he held on even tighter. Now that Undine didn't control the fall any more their drop straight down turned into a roller-coaster of twists and turns. In panic he could see the ground coming closer and closer. They must have already fallen halfway down, when he finally felt the z-drive bump into his side (how could he have forgotten?!) and tried to reach his right hand with his left without letting go of the girl in his arms. He looked at Undine again to check up on her, but of course she was still pale as death. She mouthed the word 'back' at him and it took him a lot to not shout "I'M TRYING!", back at her.

Finally, finally, he was able to grip the dial on his glove when they were a mere 4 meters from the ground. At the same time felt Undine's hand inch to his right shoulder blade. She weakly moved her head towards him and mouthed something else, which he didn't understand. He flicked the switch and at the same time, just before the chronobreak actually set in, she closed the small distance between their faces and touched their lips together.

Hers were cold.

If his stomach were still with him, it might have done a flip. After only the fracture of a second the chronobreak yanked them apart again and back up into the air. Not even for a heartbeat Ekko found himself staring at the sunrise yet again and then they were back on the ground safely. The z-drive gave one last turn and whirring sound and turned itself off.

* * *

Instantly Undine collapsed.

Ekko was still holding onto her, but when her knees suddenly gave in all he could do was prevent himself from toppling down onto her. Instead they fell down onto their knees next to each other. Undine turned away from him and threw up on the cobble stones from the exhaustion.

Ekko felt pretty helpless. Should he do something, hold her hair back (she was wearing a ponytail again) or get her a glass of water (impossible)? In the end he settled for placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder and holding her fringe back with the other.

It didn't take long but afterwards he held her still for another little while until the convulsions had stopped and she was able sit up straight again.

"Sorry.", she rasped. "That kinda went how I didn't want it to go." And then gave a small shaky smile. Undine still looked tired and worn out, her skin see-through but not as pale any more.

"No, you don't have to apologise! I really appreciate what you did for me today. Showing me this and.. and... stuff." He drifted off for a second. Had the kiss been the thing she didn't want to forget? Had it even been intentional? Well, at least the double time-travel had worked. "I really needed that pick-me-up."

"Any time.", she said and leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder, though she was slumped down so much that she only reached his chest. Undine closed her eyes and listened to the sound of Ekko's breathing.

"I'll be ready to go soon. Just give me a minute.", she whispered apologetically.

Ekko just nodded and lifted his hand to comfortingly pat her head. Of course I took her longer than a minute but the silence was a very comfortable one.

Slowly Undine lifted her head. The place was not spinning any more and there was nothing left for her to throw up, so she figured she was good to go.

Sitting more upright she unexpectedly found herself nose to nose with the boy in front of her yet again. Their eyes locked.

"Oh.", was all Undine could say.

Her breath caught in her throat.

She could do it again, lean forward and press her lips onto his. Her eyes fell shut and before she could decide if she wanted to take the chance again, she felt him move, a hand under her chin pulling her face up, towards him, to touch their lips together.

The contact sent sparks through her. But when his lips started moving against hers, oh so softly, she pulled back like she'd just been bitten.

Ekko blinked at her in surprise and dejection.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that!", she laughed awkwardly, waving her hands in front of her face. "I'd rather brush my teeth first, ya know?"

She softly put a hand on his cheek and ran her thumb over it. Ekko smiled, though still a little off.

"Can you help me walk back?", she asked. "I'm probably still a little wobbly on my feet."

"Sure thing." He placed his arm around her waist and she slung one over his shoulder. Like two friends heading home from a night at the pub they walked and occasionally stumbled back to Ekko's apartment.

* * *

"Where do you actually live, Undine?", he asked somewhere about half of the way back.

"Pretty much on the other side of town.", she replied. "It is quiet a walk. Otherwise I wouldn't dare to imply snagging a toothbrush off you."

* * *

"Do you still live with your parents? Your apartment is so tiny but just too well stocked for a teenager."

"What do you mean _teenager_? I'm legally of age, that's pretty grown up. And I do live on my own! My parents live in a company sponsored apartment block. And they're always working anyways."

"I'd love to meet them someday."

"Uhhh. I'd rather you not."

"Hihi."

"What about your family?"

"Ekko… I… can we not talk about this? Maybe ever?"

"Oh.. Ok."

* * *

"How old are YOU by the way, Undine?"

"One does NOT ask a girl her age!"

"Ow, you didn't have to hit me for that!"

"22."

…

"One shouldn't be looking this surprised either. Hola, unlock the door. It IS your place after all."


	3. Time to start some trouble

The morning light was now slowly creeping into the small living room, illuminating kitchenette and workbench. Ekko half-carried Undine over to the working space to sit down and brought her some water. He then set out on the journey to recover the spare toothbrush he was sure he had seen lying around only a few weeks ago.

Meanwhile Undine managed the walk to the bathroom all by herself but had to sit down in front of the sink, because her legs didn't support her weight for that long.

"Here you go!", Ekko said beaming happily while practically crawling out of some cabinet. He pushed the toothbrush into her hand and handed her the toothpaste as well.

"Thank you.", said Undine. And her stomach added a loud and long "I'm hungry."

"Right, you get to eat lots, I remember.", Ekko laughed. "I'll make us something. I definitely owe you this much."

A peak in to the fridge revealed: There really wasn't that much left to eat in the first place but at least half of it he had bought for him and Ajuna to share.

"A last feast to remember you by, little buddy.", he mumbled to himself and started to set the table.

* * *

He didn't let her help with the dishes. Keeping his hands busy felt like a good thing, the memory of his friend haunting him yet again.

When he was done, Undine had fallen asleep on the workbench, just like he had been a few hours ago. She clearly was sleeping the sleep of the exhausted, too tired to dream even. He picked her up and carried her over to his bed.

Now this was a sight he could get used to.

Quickly he shook his head to get the mental image out.

Ekko briefly wondered if he should take off some of her clothes too but then she was only wearing her jumpsuit and he felt kinda perverted only thinking about it.

Instead he gathered his painting supplies and went out to add another portrait to his wall. He wanted to do it as long as his friends face was still fresh and clear on his mind. He also felt like he could deal with this first step of closure by now.  
"Back to going forward.", he mumbled to himself as he placed Ajuna's broken glasses on the pedestal.

* * *

When he got back late in the afternoon Undine was still sleeping, looking a sweet little mess. Her ponytail had come undone and her cold blonde hair was spilling over the edge of the bed. Her hand was twitching slightly. Her parted lips moving a little.

Ekko went over to sit down beside her.

Somehow the sight of her was mesmerising. Her nose wasn't really straight, there was a scar through her left eyebrow and she seemed to have burned off some of her lashes by accident recently. But overall, it was cute.

When he took of his glove to stroke her cheek, she was immediately wide awake and hit his hand away. The disoriented look on her face quickly turned into an apologetic one.

"Sorry, old habit."

Ekko was a little taken aback at this. He couldn't help but wonder what had left her that defensive even while sleeping, yet he didn't feel like pushing her to talk about uncomfortable topics today. There was a time for serious and sad talk, but this really wasn't it.

Instead he opted for the rather more pleasant response of doing what he had intended to in the first place. He leaned forward and for the second time that day pushed his lips onto hers.

This time she didn't respond instantly but she didn't push him away either. After a heartbeat of obvious indecisiveness, she lifted a hand to his face and kissed him back. All worries and suspicions were pushed back to the far, far side of his mind, where they settle down for tea and a smoke, not to be bothered any time soon.

Soon, the arm Undine had been holding herself up with gave in and they fell over.

She was warm beneath him, still relaxed and rested from the sleep. Ekko deepened the kiss, burying his hands in her soft hair. In return he received a sound somewhere between sigh and moan. The world went fuzzy around the edges.

Somehow clothing started to disappear and reappear on the floor. The jumpsuit took its sweet time however, requiring every opened button to be followed up with a kiss all the way down.

To Ekko, there seemed to be no doing wrong with Undine. She shivered under every touch, whined with every pause and repaid with equal passion. It turned him on to no end.

He couldn't help but admire her slim body and pale skin, even more beautiful with its scars. And in return she kissed his toned, lean body; not quiet fully grown to what it might be like in 3 years time.

A sudden movement found the boy flat on his back, Undine above him.

He raised his hand to trace along her jaw and neck down to her exquisite collarbone and further on to the thing on her chest. The skin around it had healed nicely, though you could still see scars from older versions of her device. It was just as warm as her body and moving along with her heartbeat and breathing. Sitting just above her heart and between her breasts it even looked like some foreign piece of jewellery, even more so since she wore nothing else to adorn her body.

"You scared?", she asked teasingly.

"No! Just... appreciating.", he answered smugly. "Making sure you're the real thing."

"We're just going to have to trust each other on this one.", she smiled and leaned down into another kiss that kicked the world off its hinges.

And when she joined their bodies, Ekko could have sworn that time stood still. His minds seemed to also take the time off. He later remembered thinking something along the lines of: "Huh. Freezing time. Interesting." but he didn't think he would ever mention this to anybody.  
But in the same instant time sped up again and seemed to whirl around them in a mix of movement and scents and touches. It was all too much to take in and at the same time not enough. He could hear his name being whispered, whined, screamed and shouted. One moment she was lifting her hips to meet him, next she was on top of him. In the end they were sitting face to face, Undine straddling his hips and moving excruciatingly slow. Their kisses were mixed with sweat, adding a salty note to the sweetness. Moving closer and closer to the edge, both were holding on for dear life, for any extra second spent hanging on together. When the ground gave away beneath them, Ekko could feel Undine biting his shoulder as if to make sure they wouldn't be separated during the fall. Hitting the bottom knocked the air out of his lungs.

* * *

A few minutes must have passed until Ekko was able to think straight again, heartbeat slowing down to a more normal rhythm. Undine lay sprawled atop him, a leg draped over his hips, an arm slung across his chest, head nuzzling into the crook of his neck.

"You alive?", she asked quietly

"Think so.", he whispered back. "That bite hurts a little now though."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be." He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in even closer, using the other to play with her hair. He liked how even the shaved part of it was soft to the touch.

Her fingers were carefully tracing the outlines of his face, down to the tip of his nose, around his lips and across his eyelids. He didn't remember at what point he fell asleep.

* * *

It was dark again when something woke him. At first he couldn't figure out what it had been and nearly went back to sleep. Until he heard Undine's voice coming from next door.

It must have been the lack of her warmth and weight on the bed that disturbed his sleep. He was about to get up and join her but something about the tone of her voice made him pause.

"I thought it wasn't meant to be until next week!", she hissed. There was a definite hint of panic in her voice.

As quietly as he could, Ekko turned his face to the half-open door to the living room. Undine was standing with her back to him, still naked, holding a phone to her ear. She was shaking visibly.

"But, but I can't tonight, I..."

A pause.

"Please, I'm sorry! Please."

Ekko had never heard her sound so bitter.

The following silence was punctuated by the beeping of the dead phone connection.

"Fuck."

She looked as though she wanted to toss the phone against the wall in anger, nevertheless stopped at the last moment and crouched down in desperation instead.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"

Now Ekko felt really bad for not getting up to comfort her but still something held him back. Maybe the fact that she was obviously trying to hide this from him. Even her cursing was quiet despite her obvious need to scream. Would fate really be so cruel as to kill his best friend and set him up with a girl that gave him the sex of his life just to turn out a cheating fake? Surely not, right. But, who was calling her in the middle of the night? What could they have said to her? Why would she hide this from him?

When Undine finally stood up, he put on his best sleeping act. Which turned out to be a good idea, because she came over to the bed to get dressed. He could sense she was trying to be quiet, but failing. Her hands were shaking so much, it took her forever to button up the suit. Against the faint like from outside, her could see her silhouette. She was biting her lips hard. But a single sound she couldn't stop from escaping her lips. Ekko wasn't sure if it was a sob or a laugh and without light, he couldn't tell. Seconds later the apartment door clicked shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please feel free to leave some feedback! Every little thing is always much appreciated :3


	4. All out of warnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just remind you, that this fic is M rated? Thank you.

Instantly Ekko was out of bed and putting his clothes on, forgoing his red scarf and some metal bits that might be too flashy in the moon light. Without turning on the light he walked over to the window, making sure to stand in the shadows at the side. And sure enough Undine hurried past but stopped to look up at the window shortly. He couldn't make out her expression in the dark. The moment she turned around again, Ekko pulled the handle on the z-drive and the blue light enveloped him. He dashed out the door and down the stairs; an unwanted deja-vu of just a few days ago when he had sprinted out to safe his friend. This time he brought his sword straight away.

"'I won't let you become another face on the wall.' sounds like a bad omen now.", he thought to himself. But still wished with all his heart that this night would not end like the bad bad nightmare it was shaping up to be.

But on fist try he couldn't even find her after he left his apartment building.

**Rewind #1**

He lost her after 5minutes of running around corners and barely seeing her tips of her hair vanish behind the next building.

**Rewind #2**

Once he figured out that she was probably heading home, he even found her again after he lost her at a later point. Just like she said, she must live far far away on the very other side of Zaun. But yet again, after about half an hour, he lost her out of his sight outside the centre of town. Which was funny, because here the streets actually got wider, broader and cleaner so it should have been so much easier to spot her. He started to get the feeling she was trying to shake him off. Maybe she was doing it just in case.

**Rewind #4**

He managed to follow her to her doorstep after once being nearly discovered (and rewinding) due to keeping too close. But now, here he was.

Undine's house was huge for Zaun standards. There was a little front garden, a bronze gate leading to it. The house itself had three stories, beautiful big windows and was overall utterly unkempt. The grass was growing wild, the name plate had been ripped of, the windows shattered, bricks were lying around from where they had literally fallen from the house.

"What the hell?!", he breathed out. Just who was that girl he had just spend the night with? He was starting to get a feeling that it might have been a bad choice after all.

As he was trying to figure out what to do next, he suddenly heard faint voices from the second floor. In one window, the faint flickering light of a candle went on. As quietly as he could, he jumped over the squeaky garden gate and tried the handle of the front door. It was unlocked. He crept inside, the tail of blue light following his every step. The inside of the house was just as run down as the outside. Dust gathered in the corners, the furniture was old and some things even mouldy. Tapestry hung from parts of the ceiling and most rooms didn't even have ceiling lights any more. With feather-light steps he went up the stairs to the second floor. Now he could hear the voices again. One was clearly Undine, sounding as bitter as before. The other he had never heard before, but it was most definitely male.

"Well, look at you. What a naughty little girl, going home with strangers at night like that. It's dangerous for you, you know?"

"Yes, I'm sorry." Undine's voice sounded broken, like she had to talk around a huge lump in her throat.

"Don't think I wouldn't notice, if somebody laid _a hand_ on you like that."

Ekko was starting to really really fear the worst.

"Did he do you good? Don't tell me you were still _with_ him when I called?!"

When he reached the top of the stairs, he saw the light coming from one of the three rooms, the door left ajar. Slowly, silently he crept on until he could make out what was happening inside. The voices had been oddly quiet just then, could they have noticed him?

The first thing he saw when his eyes adjusted to the light was Undine's face, contorted in pain. She was biting her hand so hard that blood was dripping down onto the table beneath her. Without thinking Ekko kicked open the door, sword at the ready. What unfolded before him, made him wish neither of them would have never left the house that night.

Undine was naked, her jumpsuit pooling around her ankles. She was bent over a table on which the candle stood, pushed and held down by a stranger's hand. The guy standing behind her was tall and lean, well dressed in a corporation's suit, his face mostly hidden in the shadows. And, and Ekko didn't even want to think about it, his suit trousers were halfway down.

Undine's eyes widened in horror. "No.", she whispered, just as the man behind her let out a deep growl. His free hand went underneath his jacket and pulled out a gun. Ekko was all ready to evade the shot and pounce but Undine whispered something and the pain in her voice nearly broke his heart, even though he couldn't even catch the words.

And so he turned the dial on his glove. Blue light erupted around him and he was back in his room.

**Rewind #5**

At the blink of an eye he was already out the door again. He had to talk to her, HAD to. He seriously regretted not getting up before when he had had the chance to.

Ekko couldn't believe he had mistrusted Undine. When he had barged into the room, where she had been… her only worry had been his safety. That man had been wearing a corporate suit, so he must have been on "official business" or so high up on the social ladder he just didn't care if anybody found him forcing himself on women. But if he saw Ekko, remembered his face, Ekko might be targeted, too. And that had bothered Undine more than him helping her, or him seeing her, or anything else. This was something really messed up. AND he had to reach her before she went into the building, before they were within view of it even. Because now he knew who had called and he must have already been waiting for her by then.

He caught up with Undine at about two thirds of the way. Crossing into her path from a side alleyway he made a grab for her arm. Instinctively she dogged by flickering away from him, the shock clear on her face. She turned to run away, maybe to gain some time for coming up with a nice explanation.

Ekko just said: "I saw what is going to happen in 18 minutes and 43 seconds."

Undine froze.

"Y-You shouldn't … how…", she started saying, tears filling her eyes. "Why, Ekko, why did you follow me? You shouldn't be here!"

Her hands found his shirt and shook him desperately.

"What kind of Zaunite are you to stick your nose into other peoples' matters like that? Do you even know what he is going to do to me, to YOU, if he found out we just spend the night together? And I've been trying so hard to hide it, just this once! Why couldn't you just leave this alone… " Her questions turned more and more into sobs and the last sentence Ekko could barely understand. He just held her close until the sobbing stopped. There was one thing he had to ask. His voice was quiet and colder than he had intended.

"Why do you let him do that to you?"

Undine didn't look at him when she answered, slowly, quietly.

"My – my family has debts – huge ones. My parents gambled and drank, and then gambled some more. And then they died. And I was left with debts I could not dream of ever repaying. That guy.. that monster you saw had been their advisor for years. He just made everything worse. And I was too young. Smart, maybe. But no money to show for it. I was able to make my living with a bit of things here and there but none of that could have paid for the sums they asked for. I – I couldn't sell the house and now it's rotten as well-"

"Why couldn't you? It's – was – a good house for Zaun standards."

It took her a little to find the right words. Her mouth opened and closed a few times and when she finally spoke, her voice was devoid of all emotion. "My parents. They were murdered in there. I spend weeks afterwards pulling out the carpets and scrubbing the floors underneath because the blood and gore had soaked through. Who'd buy a house like that?!" A bitter laugh. "I couldn't get a job, I couldn't sell the house, so I sold myself. And at least for that, he pays well. And it's going on for so long now, I can't even remember how it started. I'm so scared of him. So, so incredibly afraid of what he can do to..."

"Do I want to know how old you were then?", Ekko asked. His face was contorted in disgust, though luckily Undine couldn't see. He was scared of himself at that moment.

Nervous and defeated Undine just stared at her leather boots.

"Fourteen."

Ekko nearly broke his wrist punching the wall. It did nothing to cool the red hot anger within him, but now his hand hurt as well. Undine flinched.

"Please, Ekko stop.", she pleaded.

"How could I? How is this allowed to happen, why didn't anybody do anything?", he was practically fuming.

"It's ok, it's my fault... I've gotten used to it." Again she flinched under his stare. "He… they give me drugs, to make it easier on me. That's nice right? It makes it hurt less."

"On what earth is that a good thing?! They don't even seem to help." He thought back at the small pool of blood underneath her hand earlier… later.

"They don't charge me..", she stopped herself when she saw his face. "I didn't take it last night because I thought I'd only spend the night with you. That I wouldn't need them, for once in my life."

Ekko felt like screaming. Just how was he supposed to deal with this? Suddenly, he felt a trembling hand in his. Undine was still not looking him in the eye. Her voice was small and scared when she said: "Ekko, I have to go now. I can't just not turn up, he'll just hurt me more next time. Will you … Will you do me a favour? A last one."

He didn't know how to respond to that. He just pulled her into his arms again and kissed her forehead. "Anything.", he found himself saying.

"Turn back time and let me go alone. I can't do this, if I know you know. Not tonight. Please I've done this before. Don't try to safe me."

**Rewind #6**

But he couldn't just sit around at home either. So he left, walking much more slowly this time, towards Undine's unsellable house, the feeling of being useless weighing him down more and more with every step. He crept inside and up the stairs again and sat down next to the open door. The flickering light of the candle only deepened the shadows in the hallway, hiding him even from himself. He left before that monster did and hid somewhere down the street. As quietly as before he tailed him to his house, a mansion on corporate grounds, just like Ekko had expected. Then he went home.

Undine had been quiet throughout the entire thing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A not so little note on the side, but I feel it is important nonetheless. I hope everyone here is aware that this story is a work of pure fiction and that nobody came to harm in the making of it. But sadly enough, for a scaring amount of people on this planet this is the reality. And I am not romanticizing any of it, nor saying it is good or acceptable in any way. I hope the way I write this story clearly shows just how much it can hurt a person both physically and mentally.
> 
> People, no matter of what gender, age or background can be so unfortunate as to fall victim to abusive relationships, blackmail and/or rape. Or like in this story, all of the above. I simply wanted to take this opportunity to say that nobody deserves this. Nobody. For no reason whatsoever. And if this is happening to you or somebody you know, just know
> 
> Lastly: please stay safe and help those around you if in need. Thank you for reading.


	5. Time doesn't heal all wounds

The next morning he woke up in his bed – alone and still exhausted.

Unfortunately, he hadn't come up with a solution to the problem overnight and Undine was still stuck in the same mess.

What he needed now was more information. Information on that guy, that company. And Undine.

He left way before noon and headed downtown. If there was anything he needed to know, he knew ways to find out.

By the time he reached the busy streets of the city centre it was 11 o'clock. People were out and about buying and selling food at the stalls, talking to acquaintances, screeching after their children and generally getting in the way. This was home to Ekko and he loved it. Sometimes he just sat around, watching the crowd and just how alive and lively they were. But today he was here on soon found the small side street he was looking for. It was still lined with stalls, though most people didn't usually buy what they sold. The first stall of the lot was manned by only a small boy, about nine years old. His greenish hair stood up at odd angles and his face hadn't been washed in a while.

"Yo, Morgan.", Ekko called, raising a hand in greeting. "How's things?"  
"Ekko. Haven't seen you in a while.", Morgan smiled back.  
"There's only so many tools one can buy." Ekko shrugged. He was now leaning onto the boards, a sure sign of a more private inquiry.

"I heard about Ajuna, man.", the boy mumbled, looking honestly upset. "He used to come by lots you see."  
"It's a huge loss for everyone, right."  
Ekko sighed. He wished the world would stop reminding him of it.

Morgan noticed his gloomy face and quickly changed the subject.  
"But what can I help you with, if it's not screwdrivers you came for?"  
They toned down their conversation and with the bustling of the crowd nobody would ever know what they had been talking about.  
"What do you know about the company that owns the huge building complex up in Broad Way?", he asked as casually as he could.  
"I think I know which one you mean. They are into banking. You know, make more money out of other people's money."  
"I didn't know we had that in Zaun."  
Morgan laughed a little. "Where there are inventions being made like in Zaun there is also money to be made. They just are the best at it. Sure I often see their thugs roaming the streets, trying to get overdue payments from street vendors."

Ekko raised an eyebrow. They might be here even right now?

"If they are playing nice, they send you someone with a suit. If you're a lowlife like us, they'll send someone to beat you up if necessary. And...", the boy leaned forward even more. "If they send someone with a _nice_ suit, then you're in trouble. They take your earnings for the day _every_ day, smash your plates when invited for coffee while smiling, dropping cigarettes by accident on the wooden floors, that kinda thing. It's the point where they can't get the money anyways, so they just do it for fun really." Morgan was looking at an empty stall on the other side of the main street. It was scorched and falling apart.

"Happened to them just a week ago. You didn't get involved with them Ekko, did ya?!" He cast a worried glance at him.  
"No, no. I just saw them lurking around my apartment block. There's no harm in finding out a few things. Better safe than sorry.", he shrugged.  
"That's true.", Morgan said. He seemed to buy Ekko's excuse. "They might try to buy the building, heard they do that sometimes. You might get a new landlord."  
"Well, I can deal with that. Thanks mate. I'll see..." But Morgen cut him off with an excited cry. "Oh, the busking lady is back."  
"What?!"

"Listen! She must have just started playing. She comes here every now and then." Morgan shushed him by placing a finger on his lips and pointing to his ear. And sure thing, Ekko could hear a girl's voice singing along to a guitar from the main street.

Morgan nudged him over the stall. "They say she's a real hottie.", he winked.

"I bet she is.", Ekko replied half-heartedly. The voice sounded worryingly familiar. His feet carried him around the corner without his consent and he found himself at the back of a crowd of people blocking the small street off. He elbowed himself through to the side and climbed up onto a stall that didn't look like it was about to collapse.

The people were standing around one of the wooden boxes used to carry large amounts of goods. It had been turned upside down and on top of it was the girl that was singing and playing guitar. Just like he had expected, it was Undine. She was sitting cross-legged, playing the guitar left-hand style. The hand she used for strumming the strings was bandaged.  
Ekko had never seen a group of Zaunites this quiet.

* * *

Undine was not a perfect singer, far from it. He noticed she didn't hit the high notes too well and her voice was a little rough, especially on longer notes. But it carried across the street with strength and sincerity. She didn't seem to have noticed him yet, eyes cast down, immersed in her song. It was a sad tune.

" _And my dreams are not unlike yours_  
 _they long for the safety and break like a glass chandelier_ "

Listening to it, he wondered if she had recently written it herself, it was too fitting. Nevertheless, she sang it with a smile.

" _There's laughter and oh there is love_  
 _just past the edge of our fears_  
 _There's chaos when push comes to shove but it's music to my ears._ "

Even though it was just her first song, people were already dropping coins into the bag she had put in front of her. She smiled and nodded at some of them. They appeared to be regulars.

The last few lines of the song were so quiet, Ekko could barely hear them were he sat at the back. The bunch of people was listening so intently, it seemed to suck the volume out of her.

" _yeah I'll scream to the sky_  
 _hey people live here._ "

When the last chords of the guitar ebbed away, people started clapping one by one, until almost everyone was doing it. Undine bowed slightly and smiled gratefully. In front of her a little girl was jumping up and down, trying to get her attention. She leaned down and the girl started whispering into her ear, blushing cutely. Halfway through, Undine started laughing outright. She was looking so… happy, it felt like a slap in the face.

"Oh, why not, little sweetie. I'll play that song for you."

She stood up for this one, smiling at the beaming little girl and started by clapping a little rhythm on the guitar body. This time her voice was a lot clearer and fuller. What caught Ekko's attention though, was the awkward way she was standing and he flinched inwardly.

" _Love like a needle full of methadone,_  
 _Potent but not real, left you wanting more._  
 _For us child, the stars refuse to shine._  
 _Oh well, for us child the stars refuse to shine..._ "

Did she throw him a glance just there? He wasn't sure, but then, how could she _not_ have noticed him sitting at the back? Was she ignoring him, like she had hinted last night? Either way, that song hit a little too close to home.

" _...Like unstable chemicals combining only to explode._  
 _What would it take for you to notice?_  
 _That I am a heart on fire and all the world's the fuse, so don't get close._  
 _Trouble and the worth, am I better off on my own?_ "

Way too close, it was practically already sitting down at the kitchen table like an unwanted guest. Now he was definitely feeling watched. But to his horror, it was not Undine that was casting glances at him. It was a sly looking man somewhere on the left side of the crowd, eyeing him like his dinner. By now Ekko was not the only one sitting on the stalls, but he must have been clearly visible earlier. Trying not to be obvious, Ekko eyed the weirdo again. And unfortunately he found the dreaded symbol of that company on his jacket's sleeve. The creep was staring at Undine again now, though Ekko could not for the life of him figure out why. Shouldn't he be scanning the crowds or something? Or was he supposed to tail her?

" _Contaminated quarantine, then left alone._  
 _A shipment refused, a trust unknown._ "

She must have noticed, Ekko was sure of that. She must have seen him as well as her stalker, but couldn't just stop the show. Was she in danger, should he warn her somehow?  
" _So tap the vein and light the match, we burn like stars before the crash,_  
 _But for you there's still a chance, just let go._ "  
But if there was one thing his conversation with Morgan had taught him, it was that it was best for them not to be seen together. Just like Undine had begged him to last night. If that monster of a man was just playing with her for his own sake, who knew what lengths he'd go to? That was probably why he had people stalking Undine after last night: He was trying to find her lover. Maybe just to torture her further.

" _Now there's no way to run,_  
 _and yeah there's nowhere to hide._ "

But still, Ekko had figured out a way of how he could get close to her, without it being suspicious. He looked through his pockets for some spare change and climbed down from the stall again.

" _There's nothing under the sun,_  
 _we haven't already tried._ "

He fought his way through the crowd, past families, workers and even a group of hard-core fans wearing self painted t-shirts. It didn't really register with him that underneath Undine's portrait it said "We (heart) Pascal". He took quiet a large detour as to not get too close to creepy-guy.

" _What would it take for you to notice?_  
 _That I am a hand grenade, pin already pulled so don't let go._  
 _As we chase the sun, my shadow slows us down._ "

He was only 2 meters away from her makeshift stage by now. There was only one coin in his hand and it had to land exactly where he wanted it to.

" _Without me you know, you're better off._  
 _And I know, you're better off._ "

At the last note he threw the coin in a high arc, making sure Undine would see it. It landed just behind her collecting bag and luckily did not roll away. She nodded a warm thank you to him, just like she had for everybody else, and went back to thanking all the other people as well. On his coin, he had smudged dirt on numbers of the coining date and serial number, spelling out 8 – 00. The design of coin showed the city market. He hoped she would figure out the message and meet him there the next morning. Last night, she had seemed too scared to accept help in this matter. Now the main question was, would she want to see him? Maybe not, for his own sake? Maybe yes, so that he could help her out? Or would she just take it, beating for beating like she had for years?

* * *

Since he still had lots of time left, he went to find out one or two things about his… girlfriend?… lover?… friend?… about Undine. Maybe he should talk about that with her later as well.

For this task though, he had to rely on different resources.

With no hurry, he walked the 15minutes to a certain bar at the market place with a funny name nobody could pronounce. It had therefore become known simply as "the bar" and was quiet popular in Zaun. People came by for lunch or just a drink. Late at night it was usually filled to the brim with people drinking, eating, playing cards and sometimes they even held small concerts. The food was cheap but tasted ok and you never had to wait long for your orders.

But the reason Ekko came by was one of the waiters. Lucca and him had spent a lot of time together a few years ago, doing not-quiet-legal stuff. As you do as a teenager in Zaun. When he had started to get real busy with his inventions and doing good, Lucca had picked up this job and guess what: He heard ALL the gossip. Lucca was a handsome young man, well built, blond and incredibly charming, making it a hobby of his to go home with the good looking female customers. He got more tips every night than anybody else, but most people didn't even realise just how high they paid in secrets.

* * *

When Ekko sat down at the bar, Lucca practically danced over to him and pulled him into a hug.  
"Ekko! Boy, I haven't seen you in ages!", he cried into his ear before Ekko could pry his arms away.

"A drink please, and a minute of your time.", he pressed out while still trying to regain a normal lung volume.  
"Coming right up!", the blonde boy smiled and seconds later was back with two beers and sat down next to him.  
"Drinking on the job?", Ekko asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Drinking on my break.", Lucca smirked back. After taking a swig, he leaned in closer. "So, what do you want to talk about? Didn't get into any trouble, did you? Your Momma would be so sad, how is she by the way?"  
"No, she's good, thank you. Thing is, have you ever heard of that house in the richer district that's been on sale for years? It's supposed to be haunted or have mysterious treasures or something.", Ekko said. Lucca was smart, so he'd have to be careful with what he let on.  
"Sure I have, are you planning on buying it?"  
"Maybe. It's ridiculously cheap and I'd have so much space to work, I'd never have to clean up again. I don't wanna live on somebody's old buried treasure though, just in case they come back to get it."

Lucca laughed out loud. "It's falling apart though. But then I guess so does your apartment block."  
"So, what's the story? Anybody still live there?"  
"Hmm.. let me see.", Lucca said thoughtfully. "I think up until eight years ago, a family of three owned the house. Mother, father, daughter. Now, only the daughter is still around, but since the house is falling apart, she either mustn't care or not live there any more."

"What happened to the parents?", Ekko inquired further trying not to sound too eager.

"Well, as I said, about eight years ago, the parents died. Were murdered, rather. The cops came in the next morning, when the broken windows and blood splatters on the lawn had been reported. It said in the News Paper then what they found was only a girl, barely a teenager, sitting in the living room, covered in blood. The parents were literally in pieces, littered about the entire house, only she remained unharmed.  
They took her in for questioning but the poor thing couldn't even talk from the shock. It was well known that the parents had huge debts from gambles and such, so it was concluded that someone had them killed for it and had gone a little far. What happened – or rather not happened – to the girl that night is unclear, but maybe the assassin or whoever just didn't care about her. If she's not on the pay check, you know what I mean?"

Ekko was a little too stunned to reply. Lucca noticed and hit him on the shoulder.  
"Still wanna buy it?", he asked jokingly.

"No way.", came the instant reply. "But I do want to know the full story now. What about the girl?"  
Lucca scrunched his face up, trying to remember. He was a sucker for good stories.  
"Thing is, later on a few horrible stories came out, concerning the family. The girl was left with the house and the debts and no-one to care for her. But with the debts this huge, nobody would have actually given them any money any more, from like halfway down the line. They didn't have any valuables or other stuff left to justify another loan. So, it was suspected the parents gained the money for their gambling habits through some illegal trade or business, when they weren't able to get it the normal way any more."  
"Was it ever found out how?", Ekko asked. And kinda wished he hadn't.

Lucca nodded with a bitter look on his face and emptied his beer.

"It has been guessed. They found a doctor's file on a girl with only a first name, but matching descriptions back from when she was nine. She went in by herself and complained of pain. You probably can imagine where. But the doctor couldn't file any reports, because he had neither name nor address of the girl. Or maybe simply because she couldn't pay him for the examination. Terrible, isn't it?"

Ekko was speechless for a while. This was supposed to be the story of Undine's life? Was this really the same person as the girl he knew? That played love songs on guitar for little kids? He started to understand just how terrifying each day must be to her.

"H-How old is she now? Is she still in Zaun?"  
"Well, I don't know about her whereabouts. But she was 13 or 14 then, so she should be 21- or 22 now. Aw, now what was her name? I'm sure I've heard it before. It's on the tip of my tongue… Starts with a "U"..."

Undine, Ekko though and felt like it shouldn't be allowed to be real.

"It was… something foreign..."

Undine, Ekko though again.

"Umeko, it was. I think. Maybe Uneko? No, probably the first one. Foreign grandparents or something. Or just parents being fancy."

Ekko's mind went blanc but Lucca just went on talking.

"Now that I've ruined the mood, I gotta go back to work. Beer's on me though. I'll see you around!", and with this he stood up and left.  
Ekko found himself alone, staring at a still full glass of drink. Without a word, he took his leave as well, not thirsty at all any more and dragged his feet towards the exit. Because he wasn't looking, he bumped into somebody that was just coming in though the door. "Sorry.", he apologized on reflex as he stumbled forwards a little.  
"It's all good!", the other person replied and Ekko's head snapped up just in time to see Undine's backside vanish behind the closing door.

He balled his hands into fists from the unfairness of this entire fucking day – the entire fucking world – as felt something crumple up in his right one. Where he had bumped into Undine. Or Umeko. Or whatever the fuck her name was now. She must have handed him a note. He put his hands in his pocket and went home.

* * *

Sitting down at his workbench, Ekko turned the folded piece of paper on his hands again and again.

He really wanted to open it, read what she had to say. On the other hand, he was scared of rejection. A letter telling him to stay out of her business, that she had to stick through this by herself. He found that he didn't want this, couldn't even deal with the idea. She had felt so fragile in his arms and more than ever, he wanted to protect that person. Maybe to make up for what he couldn't do for Ajuna. Maybe to show himself, that there was good in Zaun that could win. Maybe, just maybe, because the thought of her hurting any longer was hurting him as well.

"I've seen enough to know it's lonely where you are, Undine.", he said to himself. "You shouldn't have to be alone." And opened the letter.

Inside there were only a few words scribbled in black ink, with the worst handwriting he had ever seen.

"here"

It took him a second to figure out that she had proposed meeting at the bar. It was usually pretty crowded in the morning with people having their breakfast there on their way to work. It also was not uncommon for strangers to share tables if nothing else was free. If they were lucky it would be busy enough to make them look like accidental table mates holding an awkward conversation. He couldn't really think of a way to sit with her if not... guess he would have to find out tomorrow.

Until then, he would have plenty of time to come up with a masterplan to save Undine, preferably with neither of them dying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lyrics taken from Rise Against's latest album 'the black market'; the song are 'people lived here' and 'methadone'. All rights belong to them, as well as my everlasting respect for their music and political commitment.


	6. (Surprise!)

What Ekko didn't expect to happen that night, and it happened regardless of his state of preparation, was this: his phone rang. As per usual he had left it laying around somewhere. Who needed phones after all, right?!

So when the annoying beeping didn't stop, he dug around his living/workingroom, if only to put and end to the ringing.

He found it hiding beneath a couch cushion. As soon as he unearthed it, the beeping only sounded louder and seemed to pierce his skull.

He answered unthinkingly.

Then he wanted to slap himself, what if this call better had not been answered? Maybe He had somehow found out who Ekko was, acquired his number and was about to threaten him? Or maybe it was Undine? But he hadn't given her his number... now, all this sounded even more far-fetched, as he heard his mother's voice.

" _Good Evening young man. How are you?_ ", she asked in the way only known to mothers that meant: "You haven't called in so long, I'm equally worried and angry."

"Hey Mum.", he replied. At the moment he wasn't too sure if a call from the blackmailing monster would've been so bad after all. "I'm good. How are things with you and dad?"

" _Good, thank you. I haven't heard from you in a while..._ " There it was. " _... so we were starting to get worried. And your landlord hasn't called to complain either. Don't tell me you stopped working on that fancy machine of yours?!_ "

"No Mum, I haven't. Actually, I finished it. And since I haven't blown myself up, I'd say it's working quiet well."

" _That's good to hear. What have you been doing then, if it isn't the usual?_ "

"I've... Ajuna... was killed, Mum. You remember him?", he asked. It was still hard to talk about it.

" _The sweet little one?_ " His mother seemed honestly upset. " _Oh, no! How terrible! You were really close friends, too, weren't you? And he was always so polite. I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I wish I could give you a hug now..._ "

Ekko couldn't help but smile a little. There were few people in this town that could honestly just care about others like his mother.

"I'm ok. Really. There's nothing I can do now any more."

" _You know you can come by any time, if you need us, sweetheart. Not like you ever do, but still._ "

"I know, Mum. Thank you."

There was a short silence on both ends of the line. Just as Ekko remembered that asking about his dad and their jobs would be the correct way to keep the conversation going, his mother inhaled sharply and squealed:

" _You have a new girlfriend, don't you?!_ "

"WHAT?! How do you... I mean, no I don't.", he tried to dodge it. Technically Undine was not his girlfriend. But he'd lost, still.

" _Don't you lie to me, young man. Mothers can smell that kind of thing!_ "

"Mum, nobody can smell anything over the phone." But she just ignored him and went on.

" _Who is she? What's she like? I hope you're treating her well, son_!"

"Undine… And shouldn't you be worried about the other way around?!", he interjected.

" _I bet she's an angel, with a name like that._ "

Ekko winced at the statement but carried on like it didn't happen.

"Either way, I have not asked her out, neither has she, so we're NOT GOING out. I just met her a few weeks ago."

" _Oh, you naughty boy. Don't say 'meet' in that tone. I know exactly what that means._ "

"MUM!", he yelled in embarrassment, face bright red. This was getting worse by the second.

" _You should introduce us sometime._ ", she drilled on.

"Like hell, I will." Even though it had only been mumbled, she picked up on it.

" _Don't you go being sassy on me._ "

"Sorry, Mum."

" _Is she older than you, too?_ "

"Why would you ask that…" He rubbed his face out of sheer desperation. The paint smeared. Great.

" _Your other girlfriend also was a few years older, wasn't she? I'm starting to see a pattern here._ "

"Why, Mum, _why_ would you bring up Jinx in this conversation?!"

Worse and worse.

" _What happened to that Jinx girl after you broke up with her, anyways?_ "

"Don't go changing topics on me like that! And I told you, she got invited to join the League after she moved away. AND CAN WE PLEASE STOP TAKING ABOUT THIS NOW?", he was close to tears. Were everybody's parents this nosey?

" _You got it._ ", his Mum gave in, but he was certain she was trying hard not to laugh. " _It's nice hearing you're ok though. Swing by some day, ok?_ "

"Yes, Mum."

" _And stay safe!_ "

"Yes, Mum."

" _You know we love you and we always will_."

"Love you, too."

She hung up and Ekko practically dissolved into the couch. What a draining experience. He couldn't help smile a little despite himself, though.  
Right.  
Now, where was he?


	7. Keep pushing me

The next morning found a very, very tired Ekko dragging his feet back towards the bar. He hadn't slept at all the night before and looked every second of it. He had tried, after the call, but failed to fall asleep. So he just got back up and returned to pointlessly making impossible plans.  
Thusly occupied, he hadn't given any thought on how to approach Undine. But for once the problem solved itself, in the form of Lucca.

"Good morning, old friend.", he cheered as he saw Ekko's face. Totally ignoring the sleep deprived absence of resistance to the usual hug, he blabbered on.  
"I made a new friend. Let me introduce you!", and dragged him over to a table.  
"Lucca, I really don't think..", he started but his blonde friend cut in.

"This is Estellize.", he introduced a girl, who was of course nobody else but Undine, smiling at him as if shy.  
"I told you, call me Estelle.", she replied jokingly.  
"This is Ekko,", Lucca said putting all his charm into it. "Why don't you sit together, and chat. I'm a little busy. I bet you, you'll enjoy his company."  
"Get him a huge coffee then, please. He's asleep standing up.", Undine ordered and gestured for Ekko to sit down.  
"Hey, Estelle.", he ground out. "Nice to meet you."  
"See, you'll get along just fine.", Lucca smiled and danced off.

"Hey Ekko.", she replied quietly. "It's good to see you, too. Alone." He suddenly realised that he hadn't even checked yet if there were any obvious threats around. Mentally kicking himself for his sleep-deprived silliness he did a quick once over but came to the same conclusion as Undine. A silence ensued.

For a little while, she just stirred her tea. Ekko was desperately looking for a way to tell her he knew about her 'situation' _and_ would support her nonetheless. After all, this time-line-Undine couldn't remember the conversation they had had two nights before. She also must think him weird to contact her in such a way.

"We need to talk.", Undine broke the silence, discomfort clearly visible on her face.  
"Look.", Ekko tried to stop her. He didn't need nor want the long version again.  
"It's more like me talking, and it won't be long.", Undine continued on undeterred. "Since I left during that night a lot has happened. Do I guess correctly that we talked at some point _in time_ then and I don't have to explain again?"  
"Yes.", Ekko replied and immediately understood. "You figured because I didn't talk to you directly instead setting up this meeting. And because you noticed how I noticed that weirdo thug in the crowd, right?"

"And what else would be horrible enough to leave you sleepless even after you were sure we would meet again?!", she said with a weak smile.

"How can you say that so calmly?", he hissed, leaning closer to her over the table, frustration boiling up again in his guts. Lucca chose this moment to bring their order, placing a huge breakfast in front of the girl that she happily dug into, and a coffee before Ekko. "Here you go!", he chimed, which Undine didn't seem to hear over her food. Lucca then quickly leaned down to whisper into Ekko's ear.

"I'd bet she's into tough boys. I totally would, but for you it's easy pl..." Ekko cut him off with a deep growl and a murderous look. "I have better things to do than shamelessly pick up vulnerable girls and. So. Should. You."  
"Then how did that bite get on your shoulder, Mr. Righteous?", he mocked. "Guess I'll give her a go then." And jumped away before a seething Ekko could beat him up.

Undine raised an eyebrow in question but Ekko just shook his head to dismiss it. Lucca must have picked up this habit of undignified jokes from the customers.

She sighed and resumed their conversation. "I'm just really glad I don't have to explain it again. It's... you can imagine that it is an uncomfortable subject for me."  
"Then why don't you just bloody well do something about it!?", Ekko bit out and immediately regretted it. "Sorry. I guess, I really don't know what it's like for you... this I could never even.." He stopped himself from rambling on further and instead sipped from his hot coffee.

"I'm just so scared, Ekko.", she whispered to her breakfast. "Even thinking about it terrifies me."  
He wanted to reach out and hold her hand, show her with actions rather than words just how much he cared. But he shouldn't. Not publicly, just in case.  
"I'm sorry – I – I want to... Undine... or whatever people call you, who exactly are you?", he asked and again it came out sounding harsher than he had wanted it to. But it had to be said.  
"I'm sorry, if you think I'm leading you on.", she replied and bowed a little as if to apologise. "I just... I never felt anything for the name my parents gave me. So I started making up names, however they suited me. The first one I had was Umeko, a character from a book I loved as a child, I used that one lots when I was younger. By now I've had so many I don't remember the 'real' one any more. Now, I chose them to fit what I want to be for other people. When I play music, I go by Pascal, energetic and outgoing. For Lucca I am the shy and polite Estellize."

"And for me?", Ekko asked. His throat felt tight again. "Who is Undine?"

"It's just the first thing that came to my mind back then really. But I guess retrospectively, I wanted it to be a little mysterious... and me?" By now she was blushing and only playing with her food instead of eating it. "But by no means did I intend to hurt you with... with what we did that night. Or leaving you hanging. Or leaving at all at that time for that matter."

Seeing her this uncomfortable made him squirm in his own seat but there was nothing he could do but listen.

"I am absolutely at His mercy. I cannot pay him back, I am too weak to fight him and even if I could and would his henchmen would get me. And I'm scared. Scared to fight back, because there is no chance of me winning. Scared to trust people, because I've been betrayed by so many. Scared of people, scared that they will touch me. But still craving contact… like any human does.  
Therefore, I -" Her breath hitched a little. "I can understand if you want nothing to do with me any more. Really, it would be better for your own safety."

Finally, she raised her head to meet his gaze. There was something pleading in her eyes.

"Then why did you drag me into this?", Ekko whispered, not daring to speak louder in case his voice broke. "If you knew it would come to this. And more importantly, why did you sleep with me if it scares the shit our of you?"

This was obviously the question she had been dreading. It took her time and a few trials before the words came out.

"I wanted to give humanity a last chance." She gave one of her weak smiles. "Assuming there is good in people, there had to be a chance of actually encountering one of the nice guys. Luck had it, it was you I stumbled into. I'm so glad it was you. Gives me hope that somebody else might have been spared my fate, because at least one person they might have met would have given a damn. Either way doesn't change what I'm stuck with. And if you stick your nose into it, it might just get cut off."

"Do you _want_ me to leave you alone then?", Ekko asked. This was what really mattered to him. He didn't care about danger, risks or possible harm. But if she didn't want him to go with her, there was no reason for him to follow.

For a while Undine did not answer his question.  
So he asked again.

"I will help you if you ask me to, but do you want me to?"  
"You shouldn't be testing your luck like that."  
"Never had luck. Never needed it."  
Now she smiled for real, however still subdued.  
"I...", she bit her tongue, yet again looking down at her now empty plate. "I would give literally anything – _anything_ – to make it stop. But I would not want to see you hurt."

Ekko smiled. He knew the answer to that one. "What hurts me most, is thinking about what you go through. We'll get you out of this."  
She sniffed. And without thinking he reached across the table to squeeze her hand reassuringly.

When his glove touched her however, she immediately jumped in her seat. He could see her visibly restraining herself from flickering away. Though because awkwardly already halfway standing up, she rose fully and said. "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom. I should wash my face before I fully start crying in public."  
He just nodded and took another sip from his now lukewarm coffee. That had been awkward. But at last, a few vital questions had been answered.

* * *

"Hey Estelle!", Lucca called and Undine turned around to wave at him.  
"Hey. Say, where's the ladies'?", she asked and smiled a little embarrassed.  
"I'll show you, just come with me.", he offered and led the way.

After a few turns and twists around tables and down a hallway, Undine finally found the sign on the wall she had been looking for.

"Thank you very... mmph?!", she started but felt herself dragged off in the different direction, into a hall labelled 'private'. With the same movement, Lucca had slapped a hand over her mouth, practically nailing her to the wall with the force of it.  
"You're welcome, little Estellize.", the boy grinned smugly. "I guess it's just you and me now, isn't it?"  
His free hand wandered from where it had been placed on the wall down to her shoulder and then further to the buttons down her chest. Undine stopped breathing and her eyes went out of focus. Lucca didn't notice her trembling knees.

"I was right, wasn't I?", he breathed into her ear. "You're into this." His hand found its way into the top of her jumpsuit and cupped one of her breasts. His thumb slowly traced over her nipple.  
Instead of a proper reply, she just whimpered. Lucca took it as an invitation to continue, carefully biting her earlobe and chuckling darkly. "I usually like the loud ones but I guess this is fun, too." His hand on her mouth loosened it's grip and instead traced down her spine to grab her behind. He pressed himself closer and whispered onto her lips: "I bet you do this often."  
Undine gave a strangled sound and the blonde boy could have sworn she went out of focus for a moment but he blinked and it was over. His hand left her breast in favour of further unbuttoning her top. His lips pressed onto hers, his tongue forcing its way in.  
Lucca smirked. This was fun, he thought. Maybe that's why so many people were into those kinda kinks. It did turn him on a lot, seeing her lithe frame tremble unde – he was abruptly yanked back by his shirt and literally thrown against the opposite wall. His blonde head connected with the plaster with a thud!, but before he could sink down to his knees an arm appeared at his throat. With surprising strength it blocked off his windpipe, feet dangling a few centimetres above the ground.

"Hey", Lucca choked out. "Ekko… what's.."

"What, you ask, you little shit?!", Ekko growled, eyes blazing. "You! How dare you treat her like that?! Treat ANY girl like that?!"

Lucca was clawing at his arm, trying to get some air, but Ekko didn't even notice. Nor would he have cared.  
"It's not like... hhrrh... she complained...hh.. or anything."  
That just about did it for him.

"DID SHE SAY 'YES' TO WHAT YOU DID?", he roared at his (former) friend.  
Lucca didn't reply.  
"DID SHE SAY THAT SHE WANTED YOU TO DO THAT?!"  
"Well, technically… she didn't.. say no.. so...", he wheezed.  
Ekko punched the blonde boy so hard, he was send flying down the hallway and out cold before he hit the ground. Panting hard, as if he'd been pressed to the wall himself, Ekko turned to Undine… and froze in shock.

She lay crumpled down on the ground, face ashen, and hyperventilating. Her hands were trembling hard and she didn't even recognise nor notice him, when he sat down to talk to her.  
"Undine!", he called with a hint of panic.

Then he stopped his outstretched hand just shy of her shoulder. If his unexpected touch earlier had scared her, how would she react in her current state? Probably not well. But there had to be something he could do to comfort her! He gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Undine.", he repeated, trying to sound calm. "Can you hear me? I'm right here. It's all good now, I won't let him do anything to you. Undine, I'm right here. It's all ok, listen, it's all going to be ok. I'll keep you safe."  
For a solid 10minutes he whispered reassuring little nothings to her until her eyes finally, finally focused again; her breathing more even, her fingers trembling less. Sometime in between Lucca had gotten up and hastily scrambled off under Ekko's death glare.  
Ekko held out his hand to Undine. She grabbed it and held on for dear life. Slowly he traced his thumb in circles over the back of her hand.  
After another while Undine's face had regained a normal healthy colouring. Now, Ekko felt like he could reach out again without scaring her. So he lifted his free hand to push her fringe out of her face. She was covered in cold sweat.  
"It's ok, I'm here now.", he said again. And again. And again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, so this story is turning pretty educational. But I feel like I should add this, because it's impeccable timing: If someone you know is having a panic attack, you can help them! Just knowing you are there and are there FOR THEM, will help.  
> If they are hyperventilating, the paperbag trick does help, too. When breathing fast your body gets too much oxygen which is what makes you dizzy, which then in turn makes you panic more. By rebreathing the same air over and over again you do not intake enough oxygen to get dizzy. Also, the bag in- and deflating gives feedback about your breathing frequency, which of course is abnormally high and it helps them realise that.  
> If someone cannot deal with body contact at that moment, a soothing voice will also be helpful. Sing to them, maybe a relaxing childhood song if you can think of any. Or just tell them what Ekko did (good boy, isn't he) They might not be able to at the time, or it might even feel like they are pushing you away, but they will thank you later.
> 
> Stay safe and get professional help if you think you need it!
> 
> Also, thumbs up for Ekko protecting women's rights! \\( °o° \\)


	8. My pasts have a way of catching up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The question 'discussed' here has been raised by a dear reader and it was great, so I'm picking it up. Enjoy!

The night before, after Undine had successfully given Ekko her note, she had sat down at the bar to count her meagre earnings of the day. Although people were always nice to her and complimented her music, nobody in Zaun had much money to spare, so the earnings of an entire day barely ever covered more than three days worth of eating.  
She sighed and rubbed her tired eyes.

Once again the slimy underling of her torturer had followed her for the day. In her head, she had dubbed him mantis, due to his bulging eyes and bony features, but she didn't dare to imagine what kind of gods he would be praying to. It wore her out, trying to look inconspicuous all the time, but she had to act the cute girl. Partly because people would start asking questions, partly because she never knew just what could tick Him off this time.

Putting most of the money back into her pocket, she waved at one of the waiters. The blonde boy bounced over, full of energy, and flashed her a smile.  
"Hey, I'm Lucca. What can I get you?"  
"Hey.", she replied without much enthusiasm. "A beer and the soup of the day, please."  
"Coming right up!", Lucca said and went over to the kitchens to get her food.

* * *

Four minutes later, Undine was feeling way better already. The soup was hot and savoury, the beer nice and refreshing. Lucca didn't seem like he was about to get back to work any time soon though.

"Want some company with that?", he asked, leaning on the bar counter, obviously not expecting a 'no'.  
"I've been bumping into people all day today.", Undine said around a mouth full of bread. "Wouldn't wanna be stepping on your toes, too like it did to that poor guy in the doorway earlier. Even figuratively speaking."  
Lucca waved her comment off. "You're as polite as all other guests added together, that can balance most things out. On top of that, he's a friend of mine. I know he won't care, neither do I. So, don't worry about it. We're both nice guys. Though, he's kinda famous as well."

Jack pot. She knew Ekko had come in here for some reason or another.

"Yay, me.", she cheered, trying to sound as unhappy as possible. "Stepping onto the toes of _famous_ people now… What's he famous for anyway? Didn't look famous to me."  
"I'll tell you.", he offered. "But you have to tell me your name first!"  
Undine managed to fake-blush just enough to make him think she was flattered that he'd ask. And then quickly came up with the most girly name she could think of. "Estellize. But please, call me Estelle. Everybody does that."  
Lucca beamed at her. "So, Estellize..." - "I told you: Estelle." - "… in exchange for your beautiful name, I can tell you one of the two most delightful adventures that the young hero Ekko has been involved in." Undine pouted a little, as if she found it unfair that he was keeping the gossip from her. He continued, smile even wider. "But I'll let you choose which one. Do you want the suspenseful story of his scientific endeavours, creations and battles on the tough streets of Zaun? Or do you want to hear about his first love with the infamous 'loose canon'?"

She laughed like she imagined girly girls would. "The romance one, please! I don't understand anything about science and fighting scares me so… And where have I heard that title before?"

"Ah, good choice. ", Lucca nodded, as if he'd known she'd pick the love story. Undine shuddered internally; flirting was disgusting. Then, he positioned himself to stand more comfortably, arms still leaning on the counter and began telling the story like it was a proper fairy tale. He was pretty good, though, even mimicking Ekko's voice well enough to make it recognizable, if one had met the actual person before. Which of course, 'Estellize' never had. Duh.

"The 'loose cannon' is actually a girl from Zaun that now terrorizes the streets of Piltover.", he started. And Undine nodded, as if she'd just remembered the name. Lucca went on. "Back then, all three of us were in the same gang, here in this part of Zaun and she was Ekko's first crush. Nowadays people call her Jinx, so let's go with that for the story. I'll start with how they started dating."

* * *

.

* * *

The Ekko of thirteen young years didn't look so different from the older version. He had just started bleaching his hair out to white. For that, he'd gotten quiet the beating from his Mum first time he tried it by himself, because it turned out all blotchy and orange and they had to do it again together.  
But he had been so proud when he first showed up to their gang's meeting spot, sporting the new style that it seemed to have been worth the hassle.

Their gang was just a small group of mainly kids by then, but even kids in Zaun can get up to a lot of no-good. For example, there were fights with other gangs, in which Ekko didn't really stand out too much. He wast still small and skinny, just having hit a growth spurt but obviously not being done with it yet. And though he was quiet strong when it came to it, to his displeasure, it just wouldn't show in his physique. His voice had started acting up lately and even though he was really, really looking forward to sounding more mature, he was afraid of messing up in front of her, Jinx.

Jinx was one of the older kids and thereby had a higher status than him. Not that she would care about any of that, but he did. She must have been already of age at the time, though her body didn't betray anything.  
Ekko didn't even know why he liked her so much, he just did. She wasn't curvy, like what the other boys liked. She wasn't sweet nor really cute in the standard sense, like his Mum had told him to look out for. She wasn't even smart in the nerdy way he was. But there was just something about that no-care attitude of hers, her giddiness and morbid sense of humour, the bright-blue hair and pink eyes that he liked.

And so, after months of unhappy teenage-crushing, one day he actually got the chance to impress her. She was getting ready to set up another firework, her recent hobby, and talking to herself loudly.

"Mhh… now, how can I make this look extra-special cool?!", she squealed in her hyperactive way.

Ekko, who was sitting close by – of course totally by accident – heard every word. And decided to take his chance. This was it, this was were the most important thing in his young life would be decided. He got up and walked over to stand behind Jinx where she was drawing timing and set-up plans on the wall.

He swallowed hard and said: "You know, if you adjust the timing here and take out some of the explosives out of the rockets down here, it'll make an X once you fire it." The 'X' was her signature after all. And of course his voice broke halfway and did funny things afterwards, but at least he didn't stutter.

Jinx… apparently didn't give a damn about his voice but instead jumped at the idea. Ekko was roped in to help her set up and plan through and apparently teaching girls about physics can be a good pick-up… thing.

* * *

.

* * *

Undine was done with her soup and was munching away at the last pieces of bread.

"So she wasn't as crazy back then as the newspapers make her out to be these days?" She was actually quiet enjoying this. Lucca was a great story teller, he hadn't been pushy or touchy-feely at all and hearing about Ekko's awkward teenage years was FUN. Even thought the idea of her as a barely legal adult dating a barely-no-child-anymore-Ekko was a little uncomfortable. And Jinx was roughly the same age as her so…  
"No, she really wasn't.", Lucca interrupted her train of thought. "She only started to talk to her guns around the time that she left us, too. So I've never actually seen her do it. I just had Ekko tell me about it."

"How was it though? I just cannot imagine her – from what I know of – in any sort of healthy relationship.", Undine inquired further."It must have been reaaaa~lly awkward at times, yeah.", the waiter agreed. "But Ekko seemed happy enough. Now, the thing of actual interest is: How did they break up and manage to both stay alive?"

"Well, you tell me. How _did_ they break up?"

"Honestly...", Lucca said, shrugging his shoulders. "… I don't know. I could never get him to tell me."

Undine pouted and this time it wasn't even an act. "That's no fair. Why would you start telling a story that you don't know the ending to?"

He bowed slightly and said with as much pomp as he could: "Because, young Miss Estellize, I have two theories and I shall both share with you. These are the facts: Ekko was very unhappy after the break-up, yet he was not harmed. Especially the last fact leaves little room for options."

"Intriguing."


	9. I had a crush...

A

* * *

"I'll give you to the count of – time's up! Duck! Hehe, just kidding, that won't help.", Jinx yelled and opened 'friendly' fire at Ekko. He had gotten really good at dodging her shots, since ducking was always the wrong option. Didn't get any less scary though.

When she stopped, he landed safely on his feet again, getting up to stand straight and look her in the eye. Today, he was here on business. Somewhat.

"Smile! It's called gun **play**.", she laughed, obviously enjoying their little game.

Ekko didn't move a bit. He had gotten taller since they had started dating, as well as a little broader around the shoulders. Though now taller than Jinx, she could still beat him up any time she wanted to.

She lowered her gun and stared back at him, eyes wider than usual. Sometimes, even the crazy girl caught on to serious conversations. "You're not laughing.", she stated.  
"Thanks for noticing.", Ekko sighed and then gathered up all his courage to say the next words. "We need to talk."  
"Ok, Cookie.", Jinx said and flopped down onto the ground, then motioned for him to follow suit. "What's up?"  
Ekko sat down across from her and sighed again. This was going pretty smooth, enough so to make him more nervous. "Here's the thing. In this relationship I… I don't feel valued enough, I guess."

"You know you're my favourite waste of bullets.", she smiled and pecked him on the cheek.  
"I know, I know." He grabbed her hand and stared down at it. "But that's also the problem. I feel like you're just having lots of fun with me, even if it's at my cost. Like, you put me in danger of dying every time we say hello and consider it a game. You kiss me, tell me you like me and then try to shoot me – Why would you do that?!" With the question he looked back up at her. He still couldn't tell by her voice only of she was being serious or not.  
"Who needs reasons? At least I have the best intentions!", she proclaimed and threw her hands around his neck. Not serious enough. "You know I like you."  
"Jinx.", Ekko whispered into her ear. "I need to know this one. Who means more to you? Me?… or your guns?"

The girl sat back, looking utterly confused. She frowned and asked: "Why would I even think about that?"

Ekko fought hard to find a way to explain this to her. Even after all this time of close proximity, he still hadn't quiet mastered Jinx-talk. Struggling for words he finally said."It's important to me, ok? Just try?!" He looked at her pleadingly. He did like this girl. It was never boring, they were always up to fun stuff, she was cute, she did like him. **But**. But he really didn't feel valued, because there always were her guns, too, so that HE - the actual boyfriend – sometimes felt like the third wheel. He didn't want it to be like that.  
She seemed willing to try answering him though. "Wait, I'm thinking! Urgh... how do people do this?", Jinx bit out, messing up her hair.

"Try it like this.", he helped. "If you were to only have one of us with you for the next year or so, who would you pick? Me or fishbones?"

Her face lit up in that way he found so adorable and said triumphantly, as if she'd solved the ultimate riddle. "That's easy. Fishbones, of course! I can't blow stuff up otherwise." Like it was the most logical thing.

Ekko smiled tiredly. Honestly, he had been expecting this. His right hand gently cupped her cheek and tilted her head down. The kiss onto her forehead lasted a mere second, then he pulled back.

"I'll be going then, Jinx.", he said, voice starting to break. So it ended like it had started, huh? Ironical. Ekko got up and walked out on a Jinx that obviously had not understood the meaning and consequences of the events yet.

She turned around and looked questioningly at fishbones.

"What just happened?", she asked. "I don't get it."  
Fishbones sounded sad. ' _I don't think he's coming back. Too bad, I liked him._ '

And that was the last thing Ekko heard of her for a long time.

* * *

.

* * *

"Aww… that's so sad.", Undine choked out, close to tears. "Wh – What's the other theory?"

* * *

B

* * *

"Can we just, for once, not do something crazy tonight?", Ekko pleaded. He had borrowed a cool film from a friend to watch. He had made sure that there were loads of explosions, just for Jinx. She didn't seem too impressed however.  
"Let's just behave... said no one, ever.", she mocked and turned to pace around the room. "You're starting to bore me. Every time all you wanna do is lame stuff, like stay home, meet friends or … or cuddle." She pronounced the last word as if it was some serious disease. Ekko looked outright hurt. He was, too.

"Jinx, can you just for once consider what I feel like? That maybe I don't want to blow shit up ALL the time? But spent time with my girlfriend? ALONE?"

"That's what you really wanna do, Cookie?! Really? I didn't know! And you know what? I'm trying to care but I just can't!", she exclaimed and threw her hands into the air.  
"But, Jinx, this isn't fair!" Ekko was starting to get pissed off. "You're not the only one in this relationship!"  
"Ow come on, you're always complaining. All the time, nagging me about things I should and shouldn't do and things _you_ want to do... Ask me if I'm listening!", she sang. "Hint: I'm not!"  
"Will you ever stop acting like a lunatic, I know you're not that out of it!"  
"No, I _a_ _m_ crazy! Got a doctor's note." She gave him her most sickly-sweet smile, batting her eyelashes. Ekko planted his face onto the table. It was just so frustrating. She never took him seriously. Everything was just fun and games to her, especially as soon as somebody lost an eye.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm just a toy to you.", he wined.

"Oh, Ekko-cookies. How could you think so lowly of me?!", she cried out dramatically. "That really hurt... my feelings. NOT."  
Ekko looked back up from the table. Jinx was swinging one of her blue braids around and marching up and down in front of the windows of her small room, underneath which she had lines up her guns as if for a parade. She looked very comfortable with the situation. He really wasn't. Ekko opened his mouth to say something, anything to get the situation back on track, but she interrupted him on the first note.

"You know what.", she sang. "Just bugger off. Fuck off. This is so boring and you're just getting in the way all the time. Even ol' fishbones is better company than you."

Ekko was speechless.

Was this the only solution to the problem her brain could come up with? This was how things would end between them? Overall, it probably fit the relationship they had had. All about Jinx's wishes and not a single thought spared on Ekko's feelings. Still, it hurt, being kicked out like a stray dog, that had never meant anything to her in the first place.  
But maybe it was best for him to leave. Best for himself. He got up and dragged his feet over to the door, one last look over his shoulder showed his girlf… ex-girlfriend, picking up fishbones and hugging it close to her chest, dancing around the room. Last time he'd tried that, she'd beaten the shit out of him.  
What a horrible, devastating end to a young boy's first love.

Halfway down the stairs he heard her piercing voice: "Hey Fishbones, should we blow something up?"  
' _You might inconvenience people and hurt their feelings_.'  
"You're the worst weapon ever!"  
The saddest part of this was that she wouldn't even notice him missing.

* * *

.

* * *

"This one's even worse!", Undine exclaimed. "I thought he was your friend, couldn't you think of something less painful for him?"

Lucca appeared sorry but insisted that "If he was to make it out of their relationship alive, I can't think of any other options. Jinx must have either been too bored of him to kill him or been too thick to understand the situation as he walked out on her. Otherwise she would have perforated him either for the fun, or the revenge… which is kinda also for the fun."

Undine finished the last drags of her lukewarm beer and sulked into the empty glass. Poor Ekko-cookie... Had she really called him that? This was going to haunt her for a while… She shook her head, trying the get the mental image out of it.  
"Hey.", Lucca laughed, trying to get her attention back. "You know these are just my theories, right? It could have gone totally different. No need to pity anybody."  
Undine looked up at him, a little disorientated. Right, she was still at the bar and now had to find a way to weasel out of this conversation. She gave a weak chuckle back and waved it off.  
"Sorry. Sometimes I'm too empathetic for my own good."  
"Better be careful with that in Zaun!", the waiter joked with her. Suddenly, there was a slight tilt to his head, a different look in his eyes. Undine had to fight to keep from jumping right out of her seat and make a run for the door. She knew that look. Never had anything good come from people looking at her like that.

Careful to not let her insecurity show, she placed the glass back on the counter.

"You're right.", she said. "Maybe a young girl like me should be more careful. It'd better get going then, wouldn't want to get home too late." Fishing for the money in her pockets, she placed a few coins on the counter and pushed them over to Lucca, smiling innocently. "The rest is for you. For the stories."

He still had that look in his eyes, but his worry at least seemed sincere when he suggested he could walk her home. "I'll be off for the day in 20 minutes. If you wanna wait a little, I make sure you get home safely."

Again, Undine had to suppress a shudder. Why was the entire world out to get her? Or her ass, what did it matter… Then she came up with the lamest excuse ever, but a certain turn-off.  
"Oh, thank you, that's very sweet. But I have a curfew and I really need to run now or my parents will start to worry."  
There, she'd said the magic word. Parents. Nobody wanted a one-night stand with the girl's parents next door. Innocent smile still on display, she picked up her guitar case, slung the strap over her shoulder and walked out, waving one last time for good measure.  
Then she jogged home, partly to keep up the disguise, partly because she really wanted to get away this instant. Nobody followed her this time, she checked every few steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd be much honoured if you took your time to review and comment!  
> By the way, which one do you think is more likely out of the two theories in this chap, A or B?! I was going to adjust the first Extra with his Mum to make it fit to what most people thought!


	10. Time is not on your side.

After she had just recovered from her recent shock, Undine still insisted on not being seen together. She didn't want to get him into any more trouble than he already probably was and wouldn't let Ekko walk her home. Even though he insisted he could handle anything just fine, thank you very much.

So she had made her way to the bathroom on wobbly knees after all, yet again with the intent to splash her face with some cold water and regain her composure. Meanwhile Ekko went back out and left through the main exit. In all honesty, he didn't think he was required to pay in a place where the waiter tried to take advantage of your... girlfriend?! Shoot, he still hadn't talked to her about that. Maybe he should try again later.  
But either way, not being allowed to walk her home didn't mean he couldn't _make sure she got home safe_.

Ekko took off in to the next side alley on his left and climbed up onto the roof via drainpipes and windowsills. There he sat perched above the bar's door and waited for Undine to show up.  
Even though it was already well past nine, the air was still cold in Zaun and high up where he sat the breeze was stiff. Trying not to be seen, he rubbed his arms and crouched down to contain the warmth as best as he could.  
A teeth-chattering 4minutes and 51 seconds later Undine left the bar and headed into the maze that was the streets of Zaun. Her general direction seemed to be her house again and he was relieved to find that he remembered the way pretty well himself. When suddenly she turned her head and flashed him a small smile, he nearly stumbled over his own feet.

Trust her to see right through him.  
But she didn't seem to mind and that made Ekko glad, somehow.  
And so they walked in companionable silence, one on the streets, one above the rooftops. One feeling a little more light-hearted than usual, the other warmer inside than better weather could have ever made him. Not that they could have talked if they wanted to.

Though Ekko's heart might have been at ease, what with him making sure she got home safe, his mind couldn't rest. He hadn't come up with anything last night when he had wrecked his head, so chances of an epiphany now were small. Nevertheless the gears couldn't stop turning in his head. Had he learned anything new, anything interesting she had told him this morning?  
If nothing else, he had learned about just how deeply the years of abuse had scarred Undine. The energetic, sweet girl he knew was unable to safe herself in the face of danger. Even tough she had amazing abilities to aid an escape or attack. Because she was too afraid, panic rooting her to the spot, rendering her defenceless. He growled like a stray dog at the thought of how proud that bastard of a debt collector must be of himself. Breaking his favourite toy in to the point where she was too scared to even try to fight back. Going so far that she started to see nice things in him, the little not so horrible deeds he did, like giving her date-rape drugs for free, giving her hope. Hope that maybe it could be over someday, that he might be so nice as to spare her the last few thousand of dollars she still owed. Hope that he had pity.  
But Ekko knew not to expect mercy. If Morgan had been right, Undine had a lifetime of being 'played with' ahead of her. A life that might end the second he got bored of her.  
And no-one would have missed her. No-one would have noticed her absence.

But not any more.

And that was the only thing they had going for themselves at the moment. Nobody knew that the little scared girl had made a real friend that had sworn to save her.

* * *

Ekko stopped dead in his tracks. Lost in thought he had wandered past where Undine stood down in the street. And she shouldn't be standing still. And those people shouldn't be talking to her.

He bit back a curse when he realised they had her backed into a wall. There were five of them, mostly bulky guys looking intimidating. But that seemed to be the only thing they had come for, because only the slimy looking weirdo Ekko had seen before in the busking-crowd was doing the interacting.  
From what he could see from his high position, that guy's smile was terrifyingly sweet. Now if only he could hear what they were saying! Even as close to the side of the roof as he could be without falling off, he could only hear whispers.  
"Wait…", he mumbled to himself. Whispers… how could he hear even the faintest whispers four stories above them? A slight rattling noise drew his attention down to his feet. He was standing on the opening of the drainpipe – the drainpipe! He practically flung himself flat down on his tummy and pressed his ear to the opening. He could still hear the jittery tapping, it had to be Undine trying to keep her hands still by holding onto her end of the pipe. And ever so faintly there was the conversation he had been similarly dreading and hoping to hear.

"...friend is missing you dearly." That had to be creepy guy. Sounded bloody creepy, is why.  
"He say he wishes to see you as soon as possible. And that he has a… _gift_ for you, that you will not be able to refuse."

"I- Is that so?", Undine stuttered. She didn't sound particularly happy about this 'gift'.

"Yes, indeed. You see, Miss, our friend has many influential colleagues that hope to make your acquaintance. It has come to my understanding, that your current… situation might be resolved."  
A short silence followed. Then, she reluctantly asked the awaited question.  
"How so?"

"Oh, I don't know much about it at all, I'm afraid. Though it seems that if you got along well all together, they might be inclined to help you. They are very generous and kind to their friends."

This time the reply came quicker. Undine was obviously grasping at straws to end this conversation as soon as possible.  
"I – I'll think it over. Thank you very much for telling me. I have to go now… Good bye.", she said so quickly, she nearly stumbled over her own words.  
The rattling on the pipe stopped and Ekko lifted his head over the side of the roof to see what was happening.

But instead of Undine's safe retreat, he saw two of the bulky thugs playing the side-stepping game with her. Her body posture grew more and more timid and the devilish grin on the thugs' faces wider, so that even Ekko could see from high above. His hands balled into fists. Maybe he should just jump down there and give those idiots the beating of their lives. But after five or six times, Undine stepped back and to the thugs' amazement disappeared. Ekko however saw a slight flicker behind the thugs' back and then another one towards the corner and then the girl was sprinting down the alley as if the hounds of hell were after her. It was all he could do to keep up without breaking his neck.

* * *

When they entered the street in which Undine's house stood, Ekko had to stop and climb down from the rooftop first. Here, the houses were spaced too far apart for him to jump across by any means. By the time he had reached streetlevel again, Undine had already disappeared behind the front door.

But Ekko was too cautious to just walk up to the doorbell and ring it. If those people knew the routes she took usually, they must have been shadowing her. Maybe somebody was sitting behind a window just across the street, watching.  
So he took to the houses' back-gardens and fought his way through bushes and flowerbeds, careful not to leave any too obvious traces.

Undine's house was easy to spot, it looked just as run down from the back as from the front. Keeping in the shadows of the wild-growing plants, he snug up to a window and knocked quietly.  
Almost instantly it opened and a hand reached down to pull him inside. As soon as his feet touched the carpet, Undine shut the window and pulled the curtains closed. It all happened so quickly that Ekko felt a little dizzy from the sudden movement. Before he could even find his balance again, she had flung herself at him and they toppled down, a slightly disoriented Ekko underneath a desperately crying Undine.

"Ekko.", she sobbed. "What should I do, Ekko?! What the hell should I do?!"

"Shh...", was all he could come up with. Smooth, he thought, as he patted her back as comfortingly as he could.  
He managed to sit both of them up, leaning her head on his shoulder and pulling her into his arms.  
"We'll get you out of this.", he said, not fully convinced himself.

"You don't understand.", she sniffed, pulling herself together, best as she could. "Did you hear what they said?"  
"Yeah. Sounded fishy to me.", he replied and wiped some leftover tears from her cheeks.  
Undine looked at him in a way that made his blood freeze in his veins.  
"Come.", she said quietly and pulled him up by his hand and up the stairs in the hall.

Ekko's eye were immediately drawn to the one door that made his blood temperature go up past boiling point again. How could she bare to stay in this house?  
He was dragged on into a room one floor above, one that looked like a small child's, complete with tiny bed, toys and frill. This must have been Undine's room a long time ago. Did she still live here? Not if the layer of dust was anything to go by. She let go of his hand and climbed up onto the wardrobe like she had done it a million times before. Using her shoulders, she pushed up against the ceiling and one panel came loose and was pushed away. Motioning for him to follow, she climbed up through the hole and was gone.  
Ekko tried to mimic her, but his attempt was clumsy if anything. Nevertheless he got up onto the piece of furniture and pulled himself through the hole in the ceiling.

* * *

On the other side, a spacious room awaited him. They were underneath the roof itself, the walls angling inwards, but one could stand straight for the most part. Soft light fell in through the small windows high above. But how Undine had managed to get the bed and table up here through the small "entry" was a mystery to him. She had a small kitchenette and even separated off the back of the long room with an extra wall, probably to allow for a bathroom. The floor was littered in books, sketches, notes and other tidbits. She must have made this her home since she couldn't afford to go anywhere else, but couldn't bare to live downstairs where her parents died and...

"I never get visitors up here.", she shrugged apologetically, a detached look on her face. "I'll make some tea."

"I'll help.", Ekko offered but she just waived him off. So instead he had a look at her work, you couldn't not if you were Ekko. He found a few earlier sketches of the thing in a pile on the floor. Back then it seemed to have been powered by external batteries, though she must have discarded that one for practical reasons. Same as where she had been thinking about implanting an energy source. She seemed to have spend a lot of time on trying to connect it to her brain though.  
"Why didn't you go with the brain-thing implementation?", he asked out loud. "The brain takes up so much of the body's energy anyway."  
"I tried it.", she replied over her shoulder. "That's when I first shaved parts of my hair and liked it so much that I kept it."  
"But did it work?"  
"Kinda." The kettle was boiling now and she had to raise her voice. "But I fainted after every flicker. Which was not very handy. The energy consumption was too sudden for the brain to handle."  
"Oh." He could have thought of that himself.

When the kettle boiled, she poured the steaming water into two mugs. A few minutes were spent in silence as he watched her stirring and then taking out the teabags, adding milk and then carrying them over to the table. In a balancing act she shoved a few books off the top with her elbow and placed the mugs down.  
Then she sat down on a box, motioning for him to take the only chair on the other side of the table.

Cradling the mug in her hands (It was too hot for him to even touch it yet, as he found out when he tried), she looked at him with a blank face.  
"Say, Ekko. You overheard that conversation earlier, didn't you?", she asked as if they were talking about the weather.  
He gave an affirmative grunt, his slightly burned fingers in his mouth preventing him from speaking. Seriously, fingerless gloves were not as cool as he had thought.

"What do you think their gift or offer is?"

He took a second to consider this properly. Removing the fingers from his mouth he said: "Well, since it's them I wouldn't expect anything nice. About his 'friends' and them being kind to you... maybe the higher-ups will release you of the debts if you paid a substantial amount back. So maybe he wants you to..." He nearly choked on the words there."...to try harder for a while and then you're free. But that just sounds too easy."  
"Exactly. What about the 'getting to know his friends'?", she asked, face still carefully kept passive.

"I don't..." And then it dawned on him. The realisation made him feel sick. "I do know. But I don't think I want to."  
"Just say it.", Undine said with the emotionality of a robot. "He wants me to let myself get fucked by all his disgusting friends. Possibly all at once, so they can have a dirty little feast. And he didn't even specify how _well_ I am supposed to get to know all of them."  
"So, you think it... it might happen multiple times.", Ekko forced out.  
"It would sure sound like him."

A pause in conversation. Undine had her tea half finished. He hadn't even started yet.  
"Are you seriously considering this offer?" Ekko's voice was so quiet, he didn't know if she had heard.

"Yes."


	11. Doubt me - I love that.

"Are you seriously considering this offer?" Ekko asked.  
"Yes."  
" _WHY_?!" Now he was being too loud.

"This is the first chance in my life to make it stop." She even smiled as she said this and it made Ekko furious.

He jumped off his chair and half of his tea spilled across the table and onto the books.  
"Are you listening to yourself?!", he shouted enraged. "Doing this won't make anything stop! They'll just keep on hurting you but this time it'll be even more people than just the sick fuck who's had his way with you since you were a child! And do you know what the easiest way for them to 'release you if that debt' will be?"  
With every word of his Undine seemed to have gotten smaller. She was clutching the mug so hard in her hands, her knuckles where white.  
Ekko fell back onto his chair, all the energy gone at the weight of his next sentence.

"They'll kill you.", he said. And then had to say it again to make himself understand. There was no point in denying it. "They want to have their fun and then they will get rid of you and your broken body and your broken mind. And then someday they'll get drunk together and talk about that one time they had 'a little fun' like they had gone to the zoo."

Another silence.

And then Undine said the one thing he didn't want to hear, ever: "I know. I know, but would it be that bad? At least it would be over. Either way, it would finally be over."  
His hands balled into fists without his consent and he had to really hold himself back from shouting again, shaking her to make her realize... He wanted to slap Undine, get some sense back into her, but he knew it'd be the worst thing to do. So instead, he got up and got a tissue to clean up the mess he'd made earlier. Meanwhile, the girl sat in silence, unmoving.

When he was done, he finally felt calm enough to reply.

He stood next to her, kneeling down so they were on eye-level and turning her head with his right hand to face him.  
"Undine.", he said, putting every bit of love and connection he felt towards her into it. "I do not want you to die. I do not want you to get hurt. I will not let you do this to yourself."  
She looked at him, as if he was a Piltie swearing his life on the superiority of Zaun. Then her face softened.  
"Thank you.", she whispered after a short pause. "I forgot that I'm not alone in this any more… Though you don't even have to… put yourself in danger."

And before Ekko could reply anything along the lines of 'I'm doing this because because I like you' or 'because you mean a lot to me' she leaned in and kissed him, leaving him breathless. But soon words clawed their way up his throat, fighting to get out. And as much as he tried to swallow them back down – he was a little busy after all – nagging worry made them too strong. So he pushed Undine away and let the words fall from his mouth before he could regret them.

"Undine, our first… when we met, that was about you trusting people, right? But I still don't know if you really, really, _really_ trust me. And I can't shake the feeling that you're starting _this_ now out of gratitude _and_ it makes me feel like I'm taking advantage of you, too." He had to stop to take a breath. "What I'm saying is, that if you don't want to, like if you liking me and wanting to do those things _with_ me is not your primary reason for actually _doing_ things with me, then I don't want to do it.", he blurted out, eyes squeezed shut for moment, struggling to regain his composure before he could even look at her.

What he saw on her face when he did, was pure bewilderment. He could literally see the gears working until she figured out the last sentence. Then, slowly, she replied.  
"You're worried that I am unable to have a normal relationship with people, because I don't know what that is? And that thereby our relationship will only be based on my insecurity and my desperate need to be loved and not my actual love for you? And you will feel no better than the person that has been as you said 'taking advantage of me'. Is that what you mean?"

"I couldn't have put it better.", he sighed.  
"Obviously."

A pause.

"The thing is...", Undine said, now slightly bemused. " that there is nothing I can do to prove to you that your hypothesis is wrong. I can only show examples where it does not apply but that doesn't falsify it."  
Ekko pulled a face, well aware of the problem. Sometimes, being good at science was tough.  
"The only thing I can do right now is strengthen the alternate hypothesis.", she said and bit her lip, evading his gaze, which looked uncomfortable and sexy at the same time. A cute blush crept across her nose and cheeks. Her mouth opened and shut a few times until she bit her lip again and looked him straight in the eye. "I like you. As the caring and smart, yet somewhat dumb Ekko that you are. And… that for once I do feel comfortable being around another person. I – I think I really do like you."

This time a different kind of words welled up and spilled out of his mouth.

"ThenWillYouBeMyGirlfriend?"

Undine's expression change from surprised to puzzled within fractures of a second. Then, her face split into a grin and she burst out into laughter, whole-hearted and joyful, like he had never seen her do before. Even though he was glad for her to be this happy, this sure was not the situation where you wanted your conversation partner to be laughing.

Ekko's face fell, crestfallen written all over it.  
It obviously took some effort, but between fits of laughter Undine choked out: "That is so cute of you. ( _laughter_ ) To ask, ( _snort, gasp, laughter_ ) I mean. ( _snort_ ) Girlfriend, ( _giggle_ ) your girlfriend!"

By now, he was just flat out sulking.  
"What's so funny about that?"

"I'm – I'm sorry!", she wheezed. "So rude of – yes, surely Ekko. Yes." Undine stopped herself and looked down at her knees in a rather embarrassed fashion. "I've just never been asked this before. I guess, I never expected to hear something this cheesy…yes."  
This time, it was Ekko's turn to cut the conversation off with a kiss.

She had agreed.  
He didn't know how else to reply.  
There are some things on this world that just cannot be properly expressed in words. And where language fails, people use other means to communicate.

With Ekko upright on his knees and Undine sitting on her box they were at face-level, but with the force of the kiss, Ekko had to pull her into his arms to stop them from falling over. Chest on chest, he could feel her heartbeat flutter just like his, even through the layers of clothing and devices separating them. Her shoulders were tense underneath his hands and he cursed himself for the sudden body contact that must have startled her. Taking his gloves off, his fingers traced up and down her spine, like she had done for him before. Even though it had only been three days it felt like so much time had passed.  
Back then, when he beat up that thug in the street to safe the damsel in distress, he would have never dared to imagine to hope he could ever dream of this. Both in the good and bad way.  
Now, as he felt the muscles of her back relaxing under his touch, the situation still seemed as unreal as it would have then.

Somewhere detached from the constant worrying of his brain, other parts of his being were pleasantly surprised to find Undine's fingers tucking on the hem of his shirt and more than happy to comply as she pulled it off over his head. When she was done, she threw it away uncaring (knocking over some books in the process), her grey eyes eyes locked onto his dark brown, nearly black ones. Her face was flushed again and it looked adorable. She leaned back in.  
His head was spinning with her hot lips on his, kissing, biting, licking; the scent of her clothes, hair and body all around him. To his surprise he still managed to wrap her legs around his waist and carry her over to the small bed unharmed. It was at the point where he kicked off his shoes that he stumbled a little, but only a little.  
Delicately he had placed her down on the bed, now on hands and knees above her.

"We're gonna have to get you some new clothes.", he said, nodding towards the jumpsuit.  
"Why?", she half-laughed. "Please don't do any unnecessary damage."  
"It's just so hard to take off.", he growled and as he said the words wanted to hit himself for bringing it up. That might have been the purpose she wore jumpsuits for.  
"Let me help you then.", Undine purred, a bit more determined than expected in this kind of situation. She obviously didn't want this to ruin the moment.

The way she undressed herself was more sweet than sexy, but who was Ekko to care about such trivial matters. Opening the first buttons down from her neck, she let the fabric fall away to reveal the creamy white of her collar bones. Since she was lying on her back, Undine couldn't inch anything down her body but instead she unbuttoned the suit all the way down to just below her navel, showing off literally nothing. After a short deliberately teasing pause, she pushed herself up to lean onto her hands in one fluid motion and the top half of her suit fell down her small shoulders into a pool of midnight blue on the sheets. Her cheek was lightly brushing against his and it was at around the time she playfully bit his ear, her bare chest pressed up to his, that his recollection of the events became fuzzy.  
How had he become undressed, and more importantly, how had she lost the lower half of her one-piece? He would sure love to be able to remember that one. But he did remember sliding her underwear off her legs, his dark hands contrasting beautifully against her pale thighs.

If their first night together had been desperately passionate, the second time would have to be called nearly unbearably emotional. He knew it made no sense to treat her like glass the _second_ time around, but Ekko couldn't not do it, now that he knew more about her. It made the way she blindly trusted him – and only him – so much more significant that he could barely handle the responsibility. He was afraid of leaving marks on her skin, because it might get her into trouble at some point. Afraid to do anything sudden, so as not to startle her again. So all he could do in the end was being as caring and gentle as...well, as he could. And though he could see her smiling ever so slightly at how carefully he was touching her, her gratitude reflected in all her actions.  
He gently kissed the soft skin behind her ear. His hand traced up and down her side and came up to her breast. Her back arched up to press herself along the length of his body, arms wrapping around his neck and fingers threading into his hair. The world narrowed down to just them, on a small bed in an unimportant room. It was warm and cramped but none of that mattered when slung her left leg across his waist.  
He entered her so slowly that she started whining, begging for more. He gladly complied. As he felt her quickened breathing on his neck, hands gripping his shoulders, he wished for a way for this to never end. He'd have to work on that.

All in all, he though afterwards when Undine was asleep in his arms, the expression 'making love' maybe was not as cringe-worthy as he had thought when he was younger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please review, comment, give me feedback, tell us how your grandparents are doing - and eternal gratitude to you ;)


	12. I need to rethink a couple of things

Ekko knew the next few days, hours even, were crucial for preparing any sort of counter-action or a reaction to the 'offer' in the first place. The phrase " _will not be able to refuse"_ had left a bad taste in his mouth and he knew there had to be something they could do to stop the seemingly inevitable.  
Nevertheless, Undine too had recently expressed the idea of incorporating the z-drive into their romantic activities. It was getting harder and harder _not_ to think about possible ways to use it.  
"You can't just flat out refuse, I don't think they'll like that.", Ekko said for the fourth time that day, trying to get himself back on topic. It was the day after Undine had first shown him into her secret refuge and they were yet to leave again. For hours they had been trying to come up with a master-plan, but so far to no avail.  
"I know, I know.", she sighed. "You really don't have to tell me that. Again."

"But your initial idea of just going along with it doesn't sound any better.", he dead-panned. She shuddered a little. "How about somehow lessening your debt enough… how much do you make with your little concerts?" Just to keep himself from getting frustrated, he scribbled on a piece of paper, but his doodles soon turned into z-drives and ideas of temporarily detaching mind from body in a temporal sense for a totally different purpose and he had to stop.  
"Just enough to keep me fed.", Undine replied while playing with her hair. God, could the world please stop trying to distract him! "So that's no help. And trust me, there is no other option I would consider ok to get lots of money fast. I've been thinking about this for years longer than you. And I will not create problems for other people in order to solve my own, so no robbing banks or anything."  
"How about running away?"

Undine face was the definition of 'I don't understand'.  
"But where would I go?", she asked incredulous.

"Anywhere.", Ekko replied. It really seemed like she had never thought of this. Could it be this easy? "And I'd come with you, of course."  
"But you don't want to leave Zaun!" She was starting to sound panicky. "And I've never been anywhere else. H-how could you just leave the city without them noticing?! I'm sure they'd find me – us. Without a doubt they'd kill you to punish me! How do you even hide in a place you don't know?!"  
Ah. That was why. She was scared of leaving the city, scared of possible consequences. Scared enough to be on the brink of another panic attack.

"Ok, then we'll have to think of something else.", Ekko said a little desperate, trying to change the topic. "Killing as many of them as possible is still not an option?"  
That did nothing to calm Undine's nerves either. "NO! I _told_ you, there'd just be more thugs and more and _more_!"

"I mean we kill HIM and take out his henchmen and maybe the rest will be scared enough to leave you alone? They have nothing to gain of you then really."  
"Except for revenge. As a company like that, you cannot lose your face. They'd hunt us down with all they have." The resignation on her face was too much for Ekko to look at. He planted his own face on the table with a little too much force.  
He could probably handle them, he though. Any amount of huge, stupid thugs chasing after them; his z-drive and him could handle them for Undine, no matter how many times he had to try. But Ekko knew she could never ever in this life handle the stress and the constant fear. Even the idea had her shaking like leaves on a lonely tree in a stiff november's storm.

There had to be something they could do?! And they probably didn't have much time to figure out what it was. Undine's phone could ring any time, the dreaded voice telling her that it was time to decide. Or that He was swinging by for a visit. Both seemed equally horrible.

* * *

It was sometime past lunch that they gave up. For now, that was. Ekko felt like he'd go mad if they didn't take a breather this moment.  
Undine had made them tea again and some sandwiches from ingredients that she had produced from the fridge previously hidden underneath more stuff.  
They now sat at the table munching away in silence, accompanied by an aura of despair like a stinky old donkey, too stubborn to take the cue and leave. When he couldn't stand it any more, Ekko picked the first question that came to mind and asked it out loud.  
"The first time we met, why did you insist on running around topless?" He was surprised to find that that had actually bothered him for quiet some time. Not to mention the mental image. "Was is to tempt fate and test my good will? Knowing you beter now, I would have guessed that it made you quiet uncomfortable."

It took Undine a second to remember the incident. Then she blushed and smiled, trying to hide it.  
"It is making me uncomfortable now, thinking about it.", Undine mumbled into her non-existent beard, squirming a little.

"So why…?"

"The only thing I used to be able to get carried away about was the thing, you know.", she shrugged aplogetically. "It was my only hobby, only purpose _and_ I had just had gotten it to work properly. The thing used to be a little not so precise when it came to location. Now, it can still deal with relocating inside of furniture and getting back out, just in case. It's not very comfortable though, being half table, believe me.  
"Anyway, can you imagine the feeling when the baby you've been working on for _years_ breaks?! For once, I had better things on mind than my state of undress."

Ekko couldn't help but smile back at that. He remembered just too well the time when he had just finished his z-drive and had been too scared to take it outside, in case it would break or get dirty. You get over that though. Had taken him much longer to get over the bragging-stage, as Ajuna had constantly reminded him off afterwards.

Ajuna.

Ekko face darkened with the mix of anger and sadness he had sported much too often already.  
It still hurt to think about the friend he had lost. Sent out to die, fought for and then still lost.  
Sometimes he still wondered if there was something else he could have done. Maybe if that bastard of a Piltie hadn't…  
Undine's hand on his face abruptly pulled him back into the real world. Her thumb was tracing over his cheek, wiping away a tear he hadn't even realized he'd cried.  
Ekko looked up to see her giving him a sad smile.  
"Please.", she said. "Please don't cry."

He had to swallow once, but then took her hand in between his and rested them on the table.  
"Sorry.", he mumbled. "It's just… I still miss him. We used to spend so much time together, most days. Every day of the past two years probably. It shouldn't have ended like that. There was so much left… left for him to do…"

Undine squeezed his hand comfortingly and kicked his shin. _Hard_.

Ekko yelped in pain.  
"Why would you do that?!", he bit out between clenched teeth, craddling his throbbing leg to his chest. "That bloody hurt!"

"It does, doesn't it.", Undine replied off-handedly, picking up her tea again. "Life is so painful sometimes. But at least you're still alive to feel the pain. You should keep that up, not only for your sake."


	13. I'll help you this time.

"I'll help you this time.", Ekko said, brows furrowed. Undine was looking at him intently, body tense, expecting the worst.  
"Duck."

She didn't react at all. After a minute of sitting still, spoon halfway up to her mouth, she dropped it back onto her plate of pasta.  
"How is that supposed to help me?"

"Really- _Really_?!", Ekko asked in exasperation and started massaging his temples. "Just how bad can one be at this game? We've been playing 'Who am I?' since we started making dinner. I have so far been Quinn, the man in the moon, Teemo and the spider you found in the bathroom the other day. And you haven't even guessed your first one right!"  
"Well, it's not my fault you picked such a hard one for me!", Undine said, pouting as cutely as she could.  
"A hard one.", he sighed. "A _hard_ one?! How can this possibly be hard?! So far we've established that you are a bloody Pokémon. You are from the original 150. You're fat -"  
"Stop calling me fat!"  
"It's just for the game, for fuck's sake! And cute. Somewhat. You have a chronic disease and aren't getting treated for it. You have feathers but can't fly."

"I said 'Penguinmon' before!"

"And I said 'There is no Penguin monster in the first 150'. And if it was, it would not have been called 'Penguinmon'! And then I gave you the SUBTLE hint: duck. DUCK. HOW DO YOU NOT GET PSY _DUCK_ FROM THAT?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, I'm sorry, not sorry /(o_o)\ That quote will never be the same to you, ever again. \\(#°x°# )/


	14. Step right up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No more psyducks, I promise ;)

The next morning Ekko decided that he had to talk to Morgan again. Maybe his friend knew something else, anything to help them out further. Undine had said that she needed to get some money and then food to feed the empty fridge as well. So Ekko left first, sneaking out the back again. Undine was to leave a little after him when she was done tuning her guitar, to make sure there were no signs of them around the house. They would meet at his place later that day, to discuss any information either might have gathered.  
He had a queazy feeling in his stomach for leaving her to go out alone, every time he thought about it. But as the day dragged on, Ekko just got more and more frustrated as he didn't find a single bit of useful intelligence on their opponent, when he could have watched over her instead. Morgan couldn't tell him anything new and grew worried as Ekko asked more direct questions, so he had to leave as to not be too suspicious. He then went on to talk to other people he knew, even the ones that seemed pointless in the first place. It was late afternoon when he was done and slowly wandering home again.

He felt at a loss. Undine had placed all her hopes on him to find a solution to the problem she could not solve herself. But he still didn't have the slightest idea on what to do either.

The company they were up against seemed just too big, too influential to be harmed in any way. Ekko and Undine together might be able to hurt some of the small fish but bigger ones were sure to follow the scent of the blood. His only guess so far was that maybe, if they got rid of _that_ guy, just Him, that people mightn't figure out it had been the two of them. After all, Undine probably was not His only victim but His favourite. Ekko shuddered at the thought.

But he couldn't think of a way they could get Him alone, without people or cameras watching. Ekko could try time and time again and just keep going until they found the right setting but then he himself was not too sure just how long the z-drive could take him back for. He hadn't tried long-time jumps yet, and he'd rather not to be honest.

The pressure was slowly suffocating him.

* * *

When he unlocked the door to his apartment, Undine was not there yet. Since she couldn't get in by herself without a key, she should have been waiting on the roof across the street, but the girl was nowhere to be seen. There was still time until she had promised to be there at the latest, so he wasn't too worried yet.

As he waited, Ekko found some of his old sketches of the z-drive on the kitchen counter. They were earlier designs, when he had – just as now – tried to find a way to take only his mind back in time. In the end he had settled for the current solution of taking his entire body, though that meant any damage he took stayed with him. Even without the extra bonus of never-ending sex the mind-only solution would have been better. Keeping his memory, but starting out fresh and rested. If only he'd find a way to make it work… He'd heard of that one guy in the League of Legends, Zilean, that had disconnected his mind from time, though by accident. So it had to be possible. But the disconnection would have to be temporary and that was the hardest and most important part, that even Zilean had never achieved. As he brooded over books and notes he had made a few years back, his gaze fell onto the clock on the kitchen wall.  
It was half past eight.

Undine should have been here over half an hour ago.

Something was wrong. Something was terribly wrong.

He yanked the handle on the z-drive and sprinted out the door.  
"Not again!"

* * *

Ekko tried to stay as calm as possible. Panicking now would not save anybody.  
He hadn't seen her once since this morning, so he had a whole day worth of checking to do. She could have been captured, or hurt, or just fallen asleep on her bed this afternoon. Ekko was expecting the worst.

First, he ran back to her house. The nearly 45min trip seemed to last forever but when he finally got there and pushed the unlocked front door open, he couldn't find anything. There were no signs of a struggle, no new footprints on the carpets, no dust that had been disturbed.

Nevertheless, he went up to her roof-chamber. She could still just be asleep upstairs, but he knew it was a waste of hope. Normal things simply didn't happen to Undine.  
There was one piece of information he _could_ gather here though.  
A quick search of the room showed a guitar in its case and a filled up fridge.  
"She's been home in the afternoon to drop off her stuff…", he said to himself.  
There was good and bad news to this: Good, because she had been here and then gone on her way to his place not so long ago.  
Bad, because now he had to search pretty much every route she could have possibly taken.  
And worse, because he highly doubted that she had just gotten lost along the way.

"Shoot.", he cursed under his breath, as he climbed back down the wardrobe.

Maybe he could find something in the gardens.

The front lawn was as messy as ever and if there had been a struggle, it would be hard to tell. But he took it that no trampled grass and no snapped branches on the bushes equalled no struggle. He also found nothing on the street and side walks themselves. This was not going to be easy.  
Next, he went around to the back of the house. Maybe she took the back route through the neighbours' gardens herself sometimes.  
A window was wide open.

Here, Ekko found footsteps in the high grass. One pair going up to the window and another going back away from it. Upon their return they only started further away from the sill and were spaced further apart. Something had made her run on her way back, when on her way here she had been walking normally.  
She couldn't have been chased, Ekko thought. But he would have to see the other person's footprints as well. Had she been late and decided to run, so she didn't worry him, or had something unforeseen occurred?

He followed the dents in the grass to the other side of the garden. There, they vanished in a part of the overgrown hedge that should have led to the back of a different house, but didn't. Ekko found himself on a well-trodden path between the adjacent properties, hidden inside the high hedges. Undine must often use this way to come and go. She probably hadn't wanted anybody to know she still lived in the house of her late parents.  
When he got out the other side, he found himself on another street, though this one didn't even look so high-class any more. He headed back towards the city-centre, eyes glued to the ground so as not to miss any other clue there might be.

At about 10 o'clock it got too dark for him to see a thing and he had to turn the dial on his glove and start over again.

 **Rewind #1  
** He combed all the streets fanning outwards from the point he thought she had left her hedge-way into town, rough direction of his house. After more hours of painfully slow walking, it had gotten dark again.

 **Rewind #3  
** Somewhere halfway down the road, he thought he had found a boot of hers. But on closer inspection it turned out to be too big to have belonged to Undine. Ekko sighed and turned the dial again.

 **Rewind #4  
** It was incredibly frustrating. He had now walked the streets of Zaun for hours nearly adding up to half a day without anything to show for it. When by chance – by fucking _chance_ – he found her phone on the ground.

Although he had only seen her mobile phone in the dark before, the shape fit. There were no decorations or cute wallpapers, which also fit her style. And it had no contacts listed. The phone had only ever been called by a private number. It had to be Undine's.  
Ekko clutched it in his hand and knelled down to think. This was still one of the possible routes she could have taken to get to his apartment block. She probably had tried to come straight over. The fact that she had been running earlier meant it had been urgent, somehow.  
This could also be the reason she lost the phone, simply by running. On the other hand, this could be the place where she had run into somebody she'd rather not have met tonight. Or any other night.

If so, maybe he could find signs of a fight here.

After 15minutes of crawling around on the dirty ground and coming up with nothing at all, it occurred to him that maybe the phone had been his only clue to find. Because she had dropped it for him.  
She must have gotten a call when she was still at home. Something that sent her running towards his house, a threat? He suspected she had been called again when she was around this area. Undine must have stopped running then to answer as calmly as she could. They probably used the distraction and carried out the trap they had set up for her here.

"She stops, someone sneaks up from behind and subdues her.", Ekko mumbled to himself, getting up to walk the steps he imagined her taking. "This really is an offer no-one could refuse. If you're not being asked in the first place… How did they subdue her though? Probably drugs. Even though she might be too scared to move at first, the panic would wear off if they didn't and she'd escape… Maybe a cloth with morphine, then. Easiest one, simple to get, effective." He stood in the middle of a cross-road, with three possible directions to go. "She must have dropped the phone and kicked it away while she was still conscious.  
"Would they have kept the cloth?", he mused as his eyes fell on some bins down to the left. "Mightn't have."

And as expected, he found an old towel dropped into one of them. It smelled of morphine but the scent was very weak.  
Ekko turned the dial on his glove.

 **Rewind #5  
** A little over ten minutes later found him standing at the same crossroad again, panting. Undine's phone was one the ground again, exactly where he had found it last time. The cloth in the bin still smelled of fresh morphine, the fumes dizzying.

Ekko took off down the street with the bins, hoping they wouldn't have made a detour for a bit of rubbish. After all, nobody knew that he was here, trying to track them down.

The direction he was headed to was toward one of the many factory-areas of Zaun. That bastard must have organized an empty warehouse for them, for the showdown. Even though Ekko knew He was rich, Undine's torturer seemed to have a liking for rundown places and humiliation when it came to his 'hobby'. Why else would He order her back to her despised home for their encounters and then this?!  
Now, the question was, which one? They could be on corporate grounds or in a rented space. If there were no further clues, he would just have to check every single one of them.  
And so he did.

He did have all the time in the world if need be, though it felt like he was running out nonetheless.

 **Rewind #8  
** He should take a minute off, Ekko knew it. His feet hurt, he was out of breath and there was no point in him getting there all exhausted, but he couldn't sit still. Waiting around at home for an hour and then turning back time to run off again… no, he couldn't do it.

Each time it took Ekko at least 21minutes and 3 seconds to get back to the warehouse area.  
He checked every building. Climbed over fences, barbed wires, gates, past security cameras. His scarf pulled up to around his nose, disguising him as much as possible with that hairdo of his. When it got too dark to climb safely, he went back and started over.

His mind kept wandering back to a few short days ago. His feet seemed to remember the panic that had driven him onwards, towards Ajuna, as quickly has he could. His shaking hands seemed to remember the fear of not being able to change what had happened. His heart beat, his breath wheezed, his vision blurred. He couldn't let it happen again. Though previous experience didn't help keep his hopes up.

 **Rewind #17  
** Then Ekko found it, the fourth warehouse he was to check on this run. Through the silliest mistake on the abductors side he found the warehouse with his girlfriend and all the people whose heads he wanted to rip off like nothing else.

Two of the thugs were sharing a smoke outside, the red glim clearly visible in the quickly approaching night.

Ekko was perched on top of yet another wall, though they didn't seem to have noticed him yet.

There were no visible signs that people were inside the building, but Ekko would always remember the face of that creepy guy standing a few meters ahead of him in the shadows. It had to be here. And it also made him glad that he had checked all dark buildings so far, he could have missed this one.  
For hopefully the last time that night, he turned the dial on his glove.

"I'm coming to get you.", he said, his voice as cold as his blood.

* * *


	15. All in - just my style

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, it's a Christmas Update! :D Are ya'll excited for this? I am. I'm really nervous actually. Hope you... 'enjoy's not really the word. Either way. Curtains, please!

**Rewind #18**

There were only two doors leading into the warehouse. One was guarded, the other one was locked. Ekko didn't want to risk picking it, in case it was too loud. The windows above him looked awfully old and rusty though. Sure enough, one or two… or three had fallen out.  
When he had climbed up to one of the high windows, one foot crammed behind the gas pipe, the other one onto a nook in the wall, arms desperately clinging to the sill, he still had to mentally force himself to look inside.  
Was he going to be too late again? If so, could he be any quicker to get here? Would he lose yet another friend?

Ekko opened his eyes and carefully edged himself up high enough to look downwards.

It was a middle-sized hall, mostly empty. There was wiring and walkways partly hanging from the ceiling and some rubbish lying around on the floor between overturned workplaces and crumbling machinery. In the middle, a space had been cleared off. It was lit only by a few flickering candles. Damn, that guy must have some morbid sex-fantasies. On the outer edge of the illuminated circle, a few thugs sat and watched, half-bored. Ekko counted a total of 4 inside, the candles kindly giving him enough vision to so. Creepy guy was one of them, sitting on a box, so his smoke-break was yet to come. That made five of them, including the one outside.  
Lastly, his eyes focused on the one thing he had been hoping just as much as dreading to see. Undine was lying face-down in the middle of their circle. By the looks of her uncomfortable position, she had been tied up at ankles and hands behind her back. The morphine obviously hadn't worn off yet.

Leaning over her was He, broad shouldered, well dressed, elegant. Next to him was a small, chubby man in a similarly nice suit that just didn't look as well on him.

Ekko hoisted himself up onto the sill, quiet as a cat. But people didn't seem to pay any attention anyways. Even if they did, the moonlight fell in from the opposite side of the building, so his silhouette wouldn't stand out against the light. His legs protested under the strain. Ekko paid no attention.

"Will the others be arriving soon?", small guy asked with a hint of fear.  
"No, I didn't invite them for tonight.", the monster replied with a smirk. The light caught on His pearly-white teeth. "I will present you the goods and then you will spread the word. They'll have to come crawling to me, if they want some."  
"I-I see.", the other stuttered. The smaller one was clearly intimidated by the whole thing and He was enjoying it.  
"Wake her.", He ordered.

Ekko used the commotion, rustling of clothing and squeaking of the things people had sat on to lower himself down on the other side of the window. Hanging from his fingertips it was a mere 2,5meter fall and he landed smoothly on his feet in the dark. Still, nobody noticed him.

All the attention was focused on the centre of the room, where Undine was being hoisted onto her feet by some muscular baldy. Her head lolled back and forth, legs doing nothing to support her own weight, so the guy had to continue holding her up by the arms. Creepy weirdo stepped forward and slapped her, making sure to not stand in the line of sight of the guest.  
Ekko ground his teeth, trying to control his anger. Not yet, he had to wait for a better moment to engage. When he was within range to grab Undine and able to take out at least two of them at once. He crawled closer. Though for now, Undine was still unconscious.

"Again.", He said.

Creepy guy reached out and struck her other cheek. Undine gave a whimper and started waking up slowly, like from a nightmare, squirming and kicking. When she opened her eyes and they fell on the unlike pair of well-dressed men in front of her, she cried out in horror. Her high pitched scream tore through the room, and straight through Ekko's heart. He bit his finger to keep himself from doing something stupid. Even though watching seemed like the dumbest thing to do, he only scanned the area for a better vantage point and silently made his way there. Now that he wasn't running and jumping for the first time that night, he could feel the exhaustion in his body. It didn't matter though. Ekko wasn't planning on redoing this many times if it could be avoided.

* * *

The monster was still smirking.  
With a polite little bow He said: "Good evening, young lady. How kind of you to join us tonight!"

Undine's chalky white face remained in it's state of horror. She didn't reply even as He stepped closer, holding her chin up to face Him.

"As you see, I have brought a friend. I expect you to treat him with the same respect as you treat me.", He said sweetly. "And as we're all aware, you are such a lovely girl! You might just be able to convince all my friends to release you of your unfortunate debt. Isn't that nice of them."

Still, no reply.

"Well, let's just see how you get on with Monsieur over there, shall we. Or do you want to warm up first." His voice lowered further and further, into a predatory growl. None of His sentences were inflected as questions.

If anything, she got even more pale.

He waved to the thug holding Undine, who put her down, untied her ankles and stepped back to the sidelines. In a slow, deliberate pace He walked around her, while she stood on wobbly knees, staring straight ahead. Suddenly, He grabbed her neck from behind, forcing her head up to expose her throat and rasped: "Why don't you smile, little bird. Smile for your new friend."  
When she didn't, His grip tightened painfully.

"Smile."

It was the most terrified and fake smile Ekko had ever seen on Undine's face. It was all just for a demonstration of power.  
The monster dropped her and went back to his companion. As Undine fought for composure, her eyes finally fell on Ekko, and luckily her contorted expression didn't leave enough room for surprise. She swallowed hard and straightened back up, the fake smile still plastered on her face, not even close to masking the horror.

"What do you think.", He asked the smaller one, who was sweating profoundly, coughed and then said guilefully: "Quite nice."  
The monster turned his face towards the smaller man. "Try her." It sounded like an order.

When the response didn't come quick enough, He went and pushed Undine into his friend's arms. Her hands were still bound behind her back, so she literally landed with her breast on the smaller man's face. Ekko could see the disgust in her eyes.  
This was good.  
Her being disgusted meant that she was getting over the shock and panic. Ekko still wouldn't count on her in a fight though.

The small man made a grunting sound, half laugh, half something more animalistic.  
"And she's mine for the night, right?", he asked incredulously, nearly damn salivating at the prospect now.  
The monster just nodded in sadistic satisfaction and took a seat on the side to watch.

* * *

Undine bit back all the whimpers and cries and one could clearly see that her current 'owner' was not too fond of that. With all the sweating and his bad posture he looked like a worm, or a slug. A very slimy one. Slug had still been standing with his back to Ekko, but now he walked around the girl, touching her butt, her breasts. Making her turn and twist and bend. When his hand wandered between her legs, she couldn't keep the choking sound of repulsion in. The first grin of the night spread across the small man's face and Ekko wished he would never have to see it again. Slug looked so pleased with himself, it was sickening.  
The sudden slap send Undine stumbling backwards, off her balance and flat on her back, knocking the air out of her lungs. Ekko could hear her desperate gasping, trying to breath back in.  
At a sign of His hand, two thugs went over to get Undine back up and that was Ekko's chance.

He lunged forward from his hiding spot, his blunt sword at the ready and managed to hit one of the henchmen in the temple with full force. He went out like a light and would probably stay like that for a while. The force of the movement carried Ekko on and into the side of the other one, knocking him straight off his feet. He good a good grip on the thug's head and smashed it into the floor. The satisfying sound of a broken cheekbone signalled another one down with a concussion.

With the grace of a hungry wolf Ekko raised his head and stepped in front of his girlfriend.

Then there was silence.

* * *

The monster was the first to recover from his shock and got his usual smirk back on.  
"Look at that.", he said, only slightly disguising his distaste. "Did you come to rescue the little bird?"

Behind Ekko's right shoulder, Undine was rising to her feet. It didn't surprise him one bit when in the middle of his reply "What else would I be here for?" the monster pulled his gun from underneath his jacket and fired, all in the blink of an eye. That was why Ekko was already grabbing Undine by the shoulder and rolling off to the side, evading the shot like it was nothing.  
He was back on his feet afterwards, crouched over her on the ground, ready to pounce again.

"What makes you think you can get either of you out of this alive, kid?!", the monster asked, aiming his gun again.

Ekko stared down the barrel.

Semi-automatic, seven shot, six left. It was the same one as last time. He had looked it up. Whether that would actually help in a fight against fire-arms, he wasn't too sure. His z-drive was pretty much useless in this situation. His hand would never be faster to reach the dial on the glove than the bullet to reach his head. And there was no way in hell he'd relive the scene he had just witnessed even once more. If he couldn't be quick enough to turn back time, he'd just have to do it right on the first try for once.

"I owe you nothing.", Ekko said coldly. "So nothing is holding me back. You have been playing your disgusting game with her for too long already. She doesn't deserve this."

The smirk turned into a horrible grin, amused as well as furious.  
"Oh, didn't the little bird sing the whole song to you?!"

Ekko didn't bat an eye.

"Didn't the sad, lonely but oh-so- _beautiful_ girl tell you just how she happened to become so lonely? Because I do believe that you'd rather leave her all alone again if you knew..." His voice turned into a hiss, gleeful, hurting, relentless and cold.

Underneath him, Undine started whimpering. From the sounds of it, she had her head pressed to the dirty ground, shaking like a leaf. But the voice went on and on, finding pleasure in her pain.

"Did she not tell you how _one night she flipped and went at her drunken parents with the kitchen knifes?_ "

The whimpers turned into sobs, but instead of becoming louder the were breaks of the most horrible silence Ekko had ever witnessed. All the emotions closing up her throat, the fear constricting her chest, making Undine unable to breath.

" _And the axe from the shed?_ "

Ekko could make out words now, too. She was begging Him to stop.

" _And the old hunting knife she had found in the attic one day and sharpened in the room when she was sad and lonely again?_ _And the razor blades? And the letter-openers? Did she forget to mention that?!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feedback is highly appreciated. Honestly.  
> Also, Merry Christmas and lots of LV!


	16. You never see this coming

"I know.", Ekko said as calmly as he could, standing up straight again, the gun still pointed at him. His eyes were hidden in the shadows cast by the flickering candles, but everyone in the room could see his jaw set in determination. This was not the face of a disappointed lover. "I knew for a while, she didn't have to tell me. How else would her parents have died?  
"You guys had no reason to hire an assassin to kill them. Nobody else would have profited from it. On top of that, the debt should not have been enough to blackmail her into the things You did to her. She was still under-age, so neither debt nor money would even have fallen to her yet. Or she could have refused the entire inheritance.

"You were threatening to make sure she got a death sentence."

* * *

All movement ceased. Everyone was quiet. Even Undine seemed to be past the point of simple desperation.

* * *

Ekko used the short break to reassess his options. There was a fight to be won and he had every intention of doing so.  
The monster still had six shots left and His aim was pretty good. The slug didn't really count as an opponent and surely would not influence the outcome of the battle.  
Then there were two thugs left inside and the one outside was just opening the door to see what all the commotion was about. He would take a moment to scramble over all the rubbish to get to the centre of the room. None of the thugs seemed to carry guns. Obviously, they hadn't thought too highly of Undine's lover that might or might not exist.  
Undine was still on the floor, and though she could be the fastest to move if she were to try, her current state wasn't too good and her hands still tied. In addition, if she were to engage, her lack of sustain would not aid in a lasting skirmish.

Ekko took a deep breath and raised his sword. First objective: make Him waste his bullets.

The gun was still pointing at Ekko, though the arm holding it was starting to tremble ever so slightly.  
Without warning, he crouched down and used his kneeling position for quicker start to his dash. As expected, the sudden movement made the monster fire in a knee-jerk reaction. The bullet missed by a good meter, having been aimed to were his head had been until a second ago. There was cursing.  
Five shots left.  
Ekko's legs carried him forward.

He was sprinting straight at the most buff of the henchmen, because he expected that one to be toughest to knock out. Therefore he wouldn't even try for now.  
So, instead of the clean vertical strike the thug had obviously been expecting, Ekko used his speed to jump off the arms raised in defence and throw a swing at the guy next to him, which happened to be creepy weirdo. Thug A stumbled backwards with the unexpected force, falling over into the heaps of rubbish behind him and weirdo was totally unprepared for the attack. He tried reaching for his knife strapped to his leg, but couldn't make it in time. A swing upwards of Ekko's sword knocked his hand away, and on the way back down hit his shoulder-joint hard enough to make his opponent cry out in pain and clutch the wounded arm to his side, doubling over in agony.

By this time the monster had gotten a good aim on him again and fired, but Ekko's momentum carried him onward. The bullet ricocheted off something behind him and buried itself in the wall. As such an important and disgusting person you obviously didn't have to care about accidentally killing your underlings.

Four left.

The next shot came immediately and again Ekko's predictions saved him. If you weren't used to combat and you missed a few times because your target was moving too fast, what would you do? Aim where they were going to be. Tough luck if they stopped moving abruptly.

Three shots left.

Ekko knew in what of a tight spot he was. If he got hit, there was no way for him to stop it from happening. So he was placing a lot on one card when he sprinted right at Him and threw himself at the ground at the last moment, just as he saw His finger twitch on the trigger. The boy could feel the pull of the wind as another bullet flew past his head, the sound of the spinning piece of metal moving through the air, scaringly close.

Two more.

He rolled forward over his shoulder and used the last bit of momentum to get to his feet again. Now, Ekko was standing a rough three meters away from the monster. He was a little out of ideas on how to provoke Him to waste the last two shots.  
The monster smiled his most condescending smile again. His hand was still raised, the gun still ready to fire. But not at Ekko.  
Eyes widened in shock.  
The gun pointed past him at Undine, who had once again risen to her feet and tried to undo the binds on her hands, still in shock, shaking and oblivious to the danger.  
Without thinking, he jumped to the side and for the second last time, the gun fired again. Ekko raised his sword in front of him, hands holding on as tight as he could, hoping to deflect the bullet aimed at the girl behind himself. He had hoped, prayed that He wouldn't think of that. That somehow Undine was worth more than a bait for killing a nuisance. Apparently it wasn't to Him. But to Ekko she was so much more.

It was an incredibly unlikely event but the bullet _did_ hit off the metal handle part of his sword and ricocheted off to the side. On its way, it grazed Ekko's right shoulder, making him cry out in pain. He failed to land properly and roll back onto his feet, but instead fell down onto his unhurt side, slid, rolled and skidded across the floor until he came to a stop.

One shot left.

Ekko pressed his hand to the wound. The fall had opened the slightly burned flesh and the blood was seeping out past his fingers. As he sat up, he clenched his teeth and turned his head around to face the monster again. His arm burned like hell.  
The gun was pointing at him now, but Ekko saw no intent to fire in His eyes any more. There was no need. The biggest of the henchmen, the one that had been attacked first and merely knocked off his balance had quickly recovered, assessed the situation, repositioned and drawn his hunting knife, which was currently moving at high speed towards Ekko's left eye. Ekko hadn't even noticed him getting ready. He should have known though... how on earth could he have forgotten about it, failing to plan accordingly?!  
How careless, how stupid of him...

He was too slow to react, his movements sluggish from the pain; he was feeling nauseous. This was it, he couldn't evade, he couldn't reach for the dial on his glove in time, he couldn't save...  
Something hit his eye and it shut by reflex.

* * *

When surprisingly nothing really hurt except for his arm, he slowly opened his eyes again and found his vision to be tinged red.

It wasn't his blood.

The thug was still in front of him, looking down very menacingly but even more so dying. He was coughing blood into Ekko's face.

From somewhere a small shaky voice said: "I won't let them."

Ekko looked down to find Undine in front of him, carrying the dead thug on her shoulders, hoisted up by his ribcage. The knife that had been aimed at Ekko himself mere milliseconds ago was now in her hands, buried in the thug's body to the hilt. She had stabbed him from underneath the ribs upwards, puncturing his lungs. The ropes that hand bound her hands were lying on the ground where she had stood earlier. She must have just flickered out of them.

"I won't let them hurt you.", she repeated. Her voice sounded weird, hysterical. There was a sparkle in her eyes that he had never seen before. She was smiling, but it didn't reach her eyes at all, sparkle all they might.  
She flickered a meter to the side and let the dead body drop to the ground in front of Ekko. Still hunched over, like she had been when she had to hold the weight up, Undine slowly turned around.

Ekko could see all the muscles in her body tightening, like an animal poised to attack.

From the other side of the room the monster said something, sounding His self-confident, arrogant self. Ekko noticed a fearful twitch to His lower lip. The three leftover thugs stood quietly, as if frozen still.  
"Don't be silly now, you'll get the two of you killed.", He tried to reason with the girl. "Or these will only be more murders you have to take responsibility for. And you're an adult now."  
Undine laughed at that. It was a high-pitched, mad and way too cheerful laugh. It reminded Ekko of Jinx and that scared him more than he wanted to admit.

"I don't care, you narcissistic jerk!", she yelled and continued laughing. "Because I'm finally going to pay you back _everything_ that you did for me. Kill _me_ , for all I care, at least I'd have done something _good_ with my life."  
She crouched down further and her voice suddenly dropped two octaves, losing all former fake cheer.  
"And I will _not_ let that boy get hurt."

She flickered and Ekko could barely follow the trail of destruction with his eyes.  
The gun was gone from the monster's hand. The last bullet got fired at the creepy weirdo from mere centimetres away, right between his eyes. Undine let go of the now useless piece of steel and flickered again. The thug to Ekko's left cried out in horror as the girl's thighs locked around his head. She twisted her body to the side. A lonely sound echoed through the hall as his spine snapped and he dropped to the ground. Seemingly at the same time on the other side of the circle, the last henchman got a kick to the back of his knees and fell down. It was by far the tallest one and even now Ekko would have barely been on eye-level with him. Two kicks out of thin air to the sides of the man's head followed and when the blood spilled down his chin and neck, he found his own knife stuck in the soft flesh. But only for a blink, then Undine pulled it out, blood gushing down onto her and Ekko's eyes found her again as the knife lodged itself between Slug's rips.

The last man standing was still sporting His usual condescending smirk but it had lost all of its former bite.  
With shaking voice and hands he said: "And what will you do to me, Muriel? Surely you won't be so cruel to your old acquaintances?!"  
Undine stood before Him. Even though she only reached up to His shoulders, she seemed to be towering over Him.  
"Muriel hasn't been around since you first decided to rape that vulnerable child and pay her parents for it.  
And I will have as much mercy as you ever had with me."  
There was an eerie calmness in her movements, serenity even, facing Him head on and He panicked.

The monster was good as dead and He knew it.

In desperation He tried to get a punch in, trying to save Himself by knocking her out, but she was too fast for Him to hit. His fist found nothing but thin air and Undine suddenly stood behind Him, kicking Him in the kidneys, hard. The monster howled in pain and stumbled around, clutching His sides, back arched with the pain.

Ekko could see His silhouette against the moonlight and the candles' flames – then Undine was in front of Him, lunging forward like a hungry wolf and burying her teeth in his neck.  
His last scream ended in gargled sounds of torment as she ripped out his throat, more blood splattering and spilling down her neck, and onto her clothes, dripping on the floor. He collapsed with her on top in between all the other dead bodies.

* * *

A few heartbeats passed, the warehouse seemingly empty, only the candles' flickers painting movement on the walls.

* * *

Then the girl stood up slowly, her arms dangling as if limp at her sides. For a while all Ekko could hear was his own ragged breathing and the little dripping sounds of droplets of blood, falling from Undine's chin onto the floor.

She spat out to the side, the blood on her face glistening wet in the dim light.

"It tastes bad.", she stated, as if she had just been dared to taste some spoiled food.

Her head turned around to look for him, and as she spotted her boyfriend, cocked to the side.

"Ekko, it tastes bad. I have a bad taste in my mouth." She seemed honestly surprised.  
Ekko couldn't get a word out. He was still half lying on the floor, in pain and now also in shock.  
He had known about her past. He had been certain that she had killed her parents to protect herself, going berserk in the process, now forever scarred by what she had done. And Ekko hadn't felt that it had been totally undeserved for the years of torture those people had inflicted on their child. But now, as he had seen with his own eyes what she was able to do, he was still shocked. And a little scared.

"Ekko.", she said again and wiped her mouth. "It tastes bad."

And then, as if she really had just noticed, her eyes widened as she stared at his arm. "You're hurt, Ekko!" Undine ran over, kneeling down beside him and carefully reaching for the wound. As she extended her hands out, her gaze dropped down to them. They were covered and smeared with blood.

Her voice was chillingly calm again.  
"There's blood on my hands.", and as her eyes wandered further. "All over me. It's not yours, is it?"  
Ekko shook his head.

She passed out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (」゜ロ゜)」 ... ヽ（゜ロ゜；）ノ ... (゜。゜) ... ヾ(-*_*) this is me, rereading this for you guys after not having looked at it in weeks. seriously though...  
> Please, PLEASE review guys! This is probably the most important chapter and I. Need. Your. Feedback. You'd totally make my WEEK if you did! Also: hope you had a great start to the new Year!! :)


	17. They'll wish I stayed here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter brings the first arc of Tragedy & Time to an end (don't fear, there's more). To celebrate that fact and the amount of love I got for the last chapter (Thank you sooooo much everyone!) I will be adding little facts about the story at the end of each of the next few chapters, starting today. Maybe you don't care much for that, that's ok, too. But I myself love a bit of a peek behind the scenes, so that's what I'm gonna do!

* * *

In the end he didn't remember how he had gathered the strength to get them both home. It had been a long and painful walk, his arm bleeding, Undine's still body draped over his shoulder like a dead weight. At some point she had gone from unconscious to asleep. At home, he had downright collapsed onto the floor just inside his apartment and rolled her off himself, dragging his tired feet to the bathroom to get some disinfectant on the open flesh and then wrapping it up badly with his left hand.

Since he couldn't really use his right arm, he hadn't been able to undress Undine, or wash her, or get them into bed. So he'd just gotten an old blanket and covered them with it. Ekko had fallen asleep immediately.

* * *

The next day started way too early for his liking. It had just gotten light outside as frantic screaming and trashing next to him tore him from his sleep.  
Undine had woken up, and found herself still in the same nightmare as she had been while dreaming, tossing in her sleep all night. Ekko sat up wincing with the pain but gingerly raised his arm to touch her shoulder. She jumped at little but turned to look at him, her face ashen.  
"Did it really happen?", she asked with a voice so small, it seemed to be hiding behind her. "Did I really…?"  
Ekko looked at her, covered in dried up blood, scratched and bruised and most of all afraid. Despite himself he said: "You might wanna go to the bathroom if you're gonna throw up now."

She had to flicker to make it in time.

He got up on his own. Every bone in his body was hurting, his arm had gone a little numb and he had to redo the bandages soon. Dragging himself over to the bathroom again was a challenge but he managed and turned on the tap to run a bath. A hot bath seemed like a good idea. The sound of the running water also overruled the sound of Undine's retching somewhat. Nevertheless, he went over to sit next to her, rubbing her back in soothing circles. Ekko wanted to say something but couldn't find the right words at all.

Underneath his fingers the girl was shaking as if she were running a terrible fever. When Undine was done, he made her rinse her mouth and then walked her over to the bathtub. She couldn't bare to look at the blood down her front and he couldn't use his hands, so in a shared effort, they just ripped the front of her jumpsuit open and peeled her out of the garment. She didn't need hard-to-take-off clothes any more anyway, so he just threw it away.

Even though the water was warm, Undine didn't stop trembling and Ekko used his unhurt hand to wash the monster's blood off her. He then drained the red-tinted water from the tub and ran another bath, getting in with her.

Ekko didn't know how to handle this situation, how to comfort her. Or , what she had done had been gruesome, terrifying, and act of violence for the sake of violence. But somehow he couldn't condemn her for it.  
He remembered too well the night Ajuna had died, how he had wanted to make that Piltie suffer… and he remembered himself just hours before, the hatred boiling in his blood.  
No, he would not blame her for what she had done, nor how she had done it. He just hoped she would – and could – recover soon. And that it never had to happen again. If only he could do something to calm her down.

Ekko buried his left hand in her hair and pulled her head forward to rest against his. Forehead to forehead they sat, Undine curled up between his legs, shivering. After a while, she linked her arms around his neck as well and started crying quietly.

Crying for the dead, for the murdered, crying for herself, for her freedom, everything she'd lost and everything she'd won.

She cried until the water had gone cold.

* * *

Brushing teeth was a totally different story though. First of all, it had been weird just picking up Undine's toothbrush from next to the bathroom mirror, where it still lay from the last time she had stayed over. Then, it had been hard work to get Undine to brush her teeth at all. She didn't want to even think of her mouth at the moment, flashbacks haunting her every time. In the end though, the disgust about what had been in her mouth overruled the horror of thinking what she had done with it and led her to give in.  
Ekko went off to find something to wrap her up in, trusting her to manage by herself for a second.

When he returned with a stack of blankets five minutes later, Undine was still furiously scrubbing away. There was something red trickling down her chin.

Ekko snatched the toothbrush away from her and yelled in agitation.  
"What on earth are you doing?"  
Undine spat out into the sink and stretched out her hand to ask for the toothbrush back. Her face was showing emotional turmoil again.  
"It still tastes horrible!", she wined. "I can still taste the blood!"

"No, you idiot!", Ekko fumed. "That's your blood. YOURS. Your gums are bleeding. Cold water, now!"

* * *

A few minutes later found a very puffy looking but clean and not-bleeding Undine, sniffling away while wrapped up in all the blankets Ekko had been able to find. Minus the one with the blood stains from last night.

"You must be hungry.", he said, sitting down next to her. They had both calmed down somewhat.  
"I don't think I'll ever want to eat again.", she mumbled into the blankets.  
"Don't say things like that! I just made this beautiful fish-shaped chocolate cake for you..."

She gave him a side-long glance and frowned at his playful smile. "You shouldn't joke at times like these."  
He turned around to look at her properly, wincing as his hurt arm touched the old couch. "Then what should I do at a time like..."

"YOUR ARM!", she interrupted him, a bulge in her armour of blankets hinting that she was currently pointing at it. "It's bleeding again!"  
"To be honest, I'm not sure it ever stopped.", Ekko replied drily.  
"You shouldn't joke... ARG, NEVERMIND." She flickered out of the blankets and a blink of an eye later had returned with the first aid supplies from the bathroom. Her face turned green again from the sudden exhaustion.

"Hey, no throwing up any more!" He quickly reached out to make her head point away from the couch just in case. Of course he'd used the wrong arm and ended up hissing from the pain.

"You should have been more careful.", she scolded, cutting off the old dirty bandage to assess the damage properly. Apparently worry overruled nausea. And cold, she was still naked.  
"Next time when I try to save you from someone who threatens me with a gun, I'll make sure not to get shot."  
Undine couldn't help to smile at the pout, but only a little.  
"Thank you. For sticking through this with me."  
Ekko just shrugged, trying to play it off cool, but regretted it instantly. The pain.  
She lightly hit him at the back of his head and ordered to sit still.

Even though it hurt, it was oddly calming to watch her clean his wound. She used warm water to properly rinse it again and then took tweezers she had sprayed with disinfectant to get out the last pieces of dirt that were still stubbornly stuck. It wasn't too bad overall. The bullet hadn't actually hit Ekko but instead scratched past his arm. With the sheer velocity it hard torn a bit of skin and muscle tissue. But it was nothing serious, since it actually burned the flesh at the same time, thereby closing it up. The bleeding had only started after the falling and rolling around in the dirt.  
She disinfected the wound and wrapped it up tightly, placing silver foil over the open flesh so that the fabric wouldn't stick to it.

Ekko carefully moved his arm around. It felt tight and uncomfortable but since the wound didn't get stretched any more, it didn't hurt so much.  
"Thank you.", he said and leaned back against the couch.  
Undine's head dropped onto his shoulder and she sighed, draping the blankets over herself again. They sat in silence.

Then, Ekko couldn't hold back any longer. "So...", he started and checked from the corner of his eyes if Undine was still awake. "... Muriel it was, after all?!"  
"Don't you EVER call me that.", she ground out and shuddered at the thought. "There was a reason for me forgetting about it, I remember now."  
Ekko raised an eyebrow.  
"It's horrible!", she continued with a pained voice. "What kind of person calls their poor child Muriel, for fuck's sake?!..." Awkward pause. "Yeah, right. Let's not talk about that any more."

Another, less comfortable silence followed, this time broken by her.

"We're going to have to leave Zaun after all, don't we?"  
Ekko nodded. The thought had been on his mind as well.  
He just hadn't been able to get himself to kill the last two thugs that had only been knocked out by him. Even after everyone else was dead, even after blood and guts had already been spilled. He just couldn't justify killing two unconscious bad guys. Or maybe he had just been too tired and drained. Either way, they would live to tell the tale. And though they might not be able to describe Ekko too well, since they only saw him shortly before he hit them in the head, he wasn't certain of that. Black kid, white funny hair, paint on his face, there weren't many of those around. And they knew Undine anyway.

But neither of them felt like really talking about it. They had just gotten over one crisis, now they just wanted a break.  
So instead he said: "Think you can stomach a bit of breakfast now?"  
"I'll try.", she surrendered and got up, heading into the bedroom to steal some clothes. "Should I pop down to the market to get anything?"

Ekko traipsed over to the fridge. It was empty. And he hadn't eaten since last morning. His stomach growled at him.  
"Get whatever you want to eat. We have nothing.", he said over his shoulder. On second thought he added "And no flickering until you've eaten.", while closing the fridge.

"Of course not.", she said from right behind him. Better have walked that distance.

She took a step back and turned on one foot like a ballerina. "What do you think?"  
Undine was sporting a pair of his baggy pants and a faded hodded shirt. Those were the only kind of clothes Ekko owned, truth be told. It was odd, seeing her in the same things he always wore. She was the same size as him, too, but on her admittedly more female body shape it just looked different.

He raised an eyebrow. "Suits me better. And no flickering I said!"  
She pouted this time, then added: "I didn't flicker. I'm still on the same spot, right here."  
"But it looked like you did, you weren't… sharp… for a moment there."  
Undine cocked her head to the side and turned around. "I'm sure I didn't. Must've been your imagination."

Walking over to the door, she asked coyly: "Not afraid they're gonna snatch me away again?"  
"Fuck yes." The reply came instantly. "But I'm hoping they're not on the move yet. And you've got better chances off getting away from them. Just don't puke on the food." And she had to get out again, so she could get used to it straight away. In addition, Ekko knew that if he didn't make her go this time, he might forever be scared to let her out of his sight.  
"Haha..." Undine rolled her eyes but then leaned in for a goodbye-kiss regardless. Thinking about it, last morning sounded even longer ago when it came to not kissing than not eating.

Ekko wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Her body against his, her breath ghosting over his face, the familiar scent that was her. It hit him like a well-aimed punch just how scared of losing her he had been last night. Instinctively he held on tighter and in response, she placed one hand on the back his neck, the other one on his cheek, deepening the slow kiss they were sharing. Undine's thumb traced over his cheekbone, lightly. Her lips moving against his, hungrily. Her tongue dancing with his, lovingly. Her teeth biting his lower lip, playfully. It was as if finally being freed from all the burdens she had carried had given her the permission to be who she wanted to. Do what she wanted to. Love who she wanted to.

And oh god, did he love her back.

After a small eternity she pulled away slightly. It didn't leave him breathless as much as lost for words. Undine touched their nosed together, eyes closed with a smile, and sighed contently. His chest felt like it might burst at any moment.

Then she squirmed out of the embrace and vanished out the door, hood up, keys and some money in a waving hand.

Imminent explosion prevented. Now, he felt lonely instead.

* * *

She returned just over half an hour later. And even though Ekko had promised himself he would look up on possible places for them to go from here, he had fixed his hair and then had found himself staring at the door for most of the time.

Carrying the two bags of fruit, vegetables and bread in one hand, milk in the other, she slammed the door shut with her foot.  
"M'baaah.", she called around the letters in her mouth.

"Did you rob some poor letter box on the way?", he joked.  
She gave a dry smile as she put the envelops down on the table with the groceries. "Yes, yours. It was overflowing, so I took some up with me."  
"It's all rubbish anyways.", Ekko said, getting up to get plates and the other stuff ready. The water has just boiled and he poured Undine some black tea. Not the brand she had at home, but it had to do.

"It's not ALL rubbish.", she corrected, sorting through the stack of envelops. "There's bills…" - "Rubbish." - "…a note warning you of a power cut next week." - "Rubbish." - "...and what's this?!" She held up a sealed letter of high-quality paper.

"Rubbish?", Ekko supplied cheerfully.

"Oh shut up, will ya.", she replied and waved him off, breaking the seal and scanning the page.  
Then her brows furrowed and she read it again properly. She looked up from the letter at a highly-entertained Ekko, leaning with his hip against the kitchen counter, legs crossed. Her mouth opened and shut. She looked down again and reread the page. Then she ceremoniously put it down and looked up at her boyfriend again.

"I think I need my tea first.", she said, sounding very out of it.

Ekko picked up her cup and a coffee for himself, carried it over and put it down in front of her.  
"Thank you.", she mumbled as he sat down on the other side of the work-table-bench.  
By now, even he was slightly intrigued.  
"So, what exactly was written in that rubbish? Did we win a trip to the Freijlord? I could do with a holiday. Or lots of money? That would come in handy as well.", he wondered.  
"No, no, that's not it. Not really.", Undine replied, blowing on her tea, after adding milk to make it cool a little. Ekko was just sipping on his coffee as she spilled the beans.

"You have been invited to become a champion in the League."

Ekko spat out his drink, spraying Undine with it in the progress. "You're joking, right?", he choked out.  
"Hey, don't kill the messenger.", she grumbled and wiped the coffee from her face. "And I kid you not. Read it for yourself. The League of Legends. The real deal."

He picked up the now slightly coffee-stained letter and read. She hadn't been joking.

Ekko was stunned.

"This can't be right.", he said, still in denial. "How would they even know of me? What's so special about me?!"  
He stared blankly at Undine's face, which was turning more and more red by the second.  
"Undine?", he inquired a little alarmed. "How _do_ they know of me?"  
She squirmed in her seat, cheeks heated. He pressed on. "What did you do?"

"I might or might not have mentioned the z-drive in a letter to the author of a certain paper about a week ago…?", she said meekly.

"You did _what_?"  
"Zilean published a paper on time distortion and half of it was obviously wrong, because you've shown that the opposite holds true by just existing.", she put her head on the table in desperation. "How could I _not_ do it? In the name of science?!"  
Ekko slumped back into his chair, resting his arm across his eyes.  
"And Zilean told the League people how cool my inventions are and they decide to invite me. There's gonna be newspaper articles about that, did you even realize?! My face is gonna be everywhere. They'll find me and thereby you and they won't even have to work for it!"

Undine's face was still on the table, so her voice sounded muffled as she countered: "But they can't just make a champion of the League vanish. That'd be trouble."

Ekko grunted in acknowledgement. She had a point.

"And you could live on that island they own. That's neutral territory. If you can bring me, nobody could prosecute me or you for… for what happened."

A good point.

"I think you should do it.", Undine added.

Ekko lifted the arm off his face, only enough to look at her. She was resting her chin on the table, one hand on her teacup, the other underneath the wood. On her face was a confident, excited grin. It felt so good to see her like this.

"You should become a champion of the League of Legends. You'll do great, I'm certain."

Slowly, a smile spread across Ekko's face. It was a self-confident half-smirk, head still tilted back, resting on the back of the chair. He always looked bloody sexy when he did that, she thought and had to bite her lips to keep from licking them.

"Ok.", Ekko agreed and his smirk grew more wolfish than ever. "But let's get out of here with a bang."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. Tragedy & Time is named after a very fitting Rise Against song from their Black Market album that I listened to a A LOT while writing. Initially, it was one of my least favourite songs, but I've grown quiet fond of it over the course of writing the story ;P Why I picked it? I was gonna post the story and then realized I didn't have a name for it yet. And this is the first thing that came to mind. My reaction to myself was along these lines: "It's an Ekko fic. Traditionally, 'Time' hast to be in the title and I guess there's lots of tragedy so..."  
> 2\. I actually drew a lot of fanart for the story myself. but have no means or inclanationof posting them :P
> 
> as always, please be a lovely and wonderful person and review :) and thank you so much in advance


	18. Let's make them notice

It was early morning when they sneaked into the luggage compartment of a ferry headed for Piltover, the self-proclaimed city of progress.

Each carried only few things. Ekko had a sailor's travelbag with his most important tools, some clothes for change and a picture of him and his parents and one of his closest friends in Zaun.  
Undine's backpack was stuffed to the brim with books. She was still wearing the clothes she had borrowed, having none left and no money to buy any. They were both hoping for a bit of support once they reached the island, which was sort of a refuge for the champions and surely Ekko wasn't the first one to be arriving with little money.  
The soon-to-be-champion had sent a reply to the League yesterday, saying he'd accept and bringing a plus one along. They were planning on arriving in two days, thank you very much. As far as the two knew, champions were eligible to receive free lodgings and were paid on a monthly basis, plus a bonus for won fights, so it would hopefully be enough to get by.  
As they set off, Ekko had noticed the distinct lack of guitar-shaped objects on his girlfriend's back. "Aren't you going to bring your guitar?", he had wondered.

Undine had shaken her head in reply. "I want to try for a normal job for once."

"But don't you want to be able to play for yourself, at home or something?"  
"No.", she had replied solemnly. "I never played for fun. I was made to learn it and then I had use my skills to get by. I don't want to pick up a guitar ever again."  
Ekko had put an arm around her shoulder, sensing the incoming drawback by the tremble in her voice. "You'll find a good job there. Something with nice people and fair pay. Surely there are offices and tech-shops or anything that you can work at that gives a more steady income at better conditions. Maybe the League needs someone to man the merchandise booths?" He had said with a wink.  
Undine had just sighed, but a smile had been tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Anything would be fine, really."

* * *

They spend the journey in silence. Even though this was by far the cheapest way to travel, it was also not quiet legal and they didn't want to get caught just yet. There was a plan for the day and neither wanted to miss the main event.  
Not too many people were on the boat this time of the day, so the room wasn't stuffed with bags and suitcases, which left them enough space to lay down together and sleep for a few hours, making up for having to get up so early.

It was around mid-day that the ferry stopped and the two of them flickered out of the compartment, walking down the gangway with the other passengers as to raise no suspicions.

This was Undine's very first time outside of Zaun, so she stared at everything in awe, her mouth hanging open. The streets were wide, the air was clean, street lights, the occasional tree on the side of the road, all these things were new to her. Ekko had come here on one of the rare trips with his parents before, so he knew his way around somewhat. He'd also been here with Jinx before on one occasion, stealing his sword from the clock tower, but that was a totally different story.

First, they walked over to the train station, depositing their luggage in one of the coin lockers and left with only some food and drinks in a small backpack.

For once, Ekko had his phone on him, having made sure it was charged.  
He was a little worried of how Undine would deal with the situation. Before, she had been very scared of leaving her home town, afraid of new and unpredictable things. For now, she seemed to be doing fine, though. Entranced by the novelty of it all, she was staring wide-eyed at each and everything. Then she noticed him watching.  
"What's up? Something the matter?", she wanted to know.  
"No, it's… it's nothing.", Ekko stuttered, caught a little off guard, but soon gave in under her questioning gaze. "I was just worried about you. How you would deal with the new situation. It's something you didn't want to do before, so… "  
"Don't be silly, Ekko.", she laughed and took his hand to drag him onwards. "I have never been better. And I have never felt more safe than I do when I am with you."

They had great plans for the day. It'd be fun.

For them.

* * *

With just a little bit of searching (there were street signs for everything in the city centre), they found their way to the university of Piltover, a grand building with lots of pomp and kindly enough an open library.  
They browsed the shelves for a while, but found nothing they didn't already know. It was so hard being smart sometimes…

After a while of standing around in the very back of the library, everybody besides them had left the area. With a small smile Ekko walked over to Undine, who hugged him innocently and gone they were. Even the cameras they had located in the room would not pick up on the flicker, the two young people would just have disappeared to the security.  
What nobody could see, because there were no cameras behind the door labelled as 'staff only', was the reappearance of those two.  
Ekko playfully kissed Undine's nose and started down the hallway.  
"Now, let's see if we can hunt down these portable network machines they have been bragging about.", he chimed, a blue trail following his steps now. Quickly Undine caught up with him to hold his hand.

* * *

They walked into some employees, researchers, students and security guards along the way, but as soon as they got spotted, Ekko turned back time and they took a different route, or a different timing. This way, even if they came across any more security cameras, no-one would suspect them to be up to no good. Up-to-no-good-people never leisurely walked down the hallways, chatting and looking comfortable in their surroundings.

It was somewhere in the western wing's research laboratories that they found one of the machines of interest. The small pad was sitting on a window sill, next to the elbow of a white-clad researcher currently having coffee and a chat in the hallway with one of his colleagues.  
Undine and Ekko stood behind a corner, quietly discussing what to do.  
"How about this. You flicker into the room next to them, see if there's anything you can break that'll make them go in there.", Ekko suggested. "If it's urgent enough, he might leave the pad behind and I can snatch it."  
Undine nodded. "But don't rush. Just walk past normally and pick it up like it was yours. I'll join you straight away, too. So me missing will seem like glitch in the recordings."  
In this case, it was just as easy said as done.

Undine flickered, something started beeping horribly and both scientists dashed into the room, spilling coffee in the process. Ekko walked calmly down the corridor, casually picking up the pad on the way. One step behind the door and only half a second after the researches had stormed off, a grinning Undine reappeared by his side, linking her arm in his.

Together they strolled off.

* * *

The warm afternoon sun found them sitting on the relatively flat roof of one of the astronomy department's towers.

"Well, now how does this work...", Ekko mumbled and started working on the pad.  
"I'm sure you'll figure it out.", Undine encouraged him without much excitement. She was laying on her back, bathing in the sunlight that was so rare in Zaun.

"You'll get sunburned if you're not careful.", Ekko supplied, still mostly in his own little world.  
"I'll be fine.", she replied, already half asleep. "I'll have to get more of a tan if we'll be living outside of Zaun now. Or any sort of tan in the first place."  
Ekko smiled quietly to himself as Undine yawned behind him. He could hear her breathing evening out and went back to his work. There was a system he would rather enjoy having control over, after all. And it was not out of reach.  
"Silly guy even forgot to log out...", he chuckled demoniacally. This was going to be a great afternoon.

Less than an hour later Undine was woken by a tickling sensation on her nose. She cracked open one eye and then had to cover it with one arm again, because the sun was blinding her.

She felt Ekko's lips on hers, but before she could even react, he had moved on and was kissing the bridge of her nose again.

"You got sunburned here...", he said sweetly and kissed her nose softly once more.  
"… and here…", left cheek  
"… and here...", right cheek  
"… and I'm not sure about this one. Were your lips always this red?" and once more on her lips. He pulled back. "Looks cute, all flushed. Reminds me of something else."

Undine was barely awake, so it took her a while to catch on with the actual meaning. Napping in the sun, the fresh air and now the lovely wake-up call… As understanding caught up with her, she flushed properly and swatted his face away.

"You dork.", she teased back and sat up. "Stop it."

Ekko didn't react to what she had said, instead his face just grew worried.  
"Let me guess. You weren't actually flickering this time either?!"  
"Of course I wasn't.", she huffed. "Stop seeing things now, please? We can talk about whatever it is tomorrow. Today's the day off from worrying."  
"Ok, ok.", Ekko conceded. "But only if you play a game with me." He sat back down with his legs crossed and motioned for her to sit next to him.

Undine rubbed the last bit of sleep out of her eyes and looked down at the pad in Ekko's hands. It was blinking happily, expecting some sort of input.  
"Oh, so you got into the system."  
"Sure thing.", he said proudly. "Now, let's take bets. There's two main security rooms. One in each of the two wings. Which one do you think will figure out where we are first?" He moved his arm to point at the two parts of the building that spread out before them. They hadn't chosen the tower in the centre of the main-block as their vantage point for nothing this lovely afternoon.

Undine thought about it for a second. "Let's make it 'Security wing that actually gets here first', that's easier for us to see. And then I'll take the left or eastern wing."  
"Done. I'll be western then."  
"What's the price?"

Ekko smirked. "The honour of glorious honour. And the loser will have to be the winner's servant for a day."  
Undine laughed out loud but quickly stopped herself to purr "Do I want to lose then?" into his ear.  
"Maybe.", he replied smoothly and pressed a button on the pad.

In the main building underneath them a few ceiling-lights overheated and exploded.

Somebody cried out in surprise.

"So, they noticed the first one.", Ekko stated. "Should my side or your side come first?"  
Undine shook her head. "Do the first time simultaneously. Then yours."  
"My pleasure."  
He typed some things onto the tablet and a moment later on the far end of both wings windows opened as people stuck their heads outside to get some air.

"What did you do this time? I thought you had only meddled with the lights?", Undine asked worriedly.  
"The literature and biology department are now getting the special air from the cellars where they do their experiments on animals. I'm guessing it's kind of aromatic. I found out that most things run through the caretaker's system. Like lights, air vents, the water supplies, electricity in general and even some of the door mechanisms.", Ekko revealed proudly. "Which in itself seems silly. It's all too centralised. BUT!" and he stopped for a more dramatic effect. "It's even worse, because that janitor's password was 123456."  
"And this is where Piltover's finest come to exchange knowledge to further understanding. What a waste.", Undine scolded the university in general. "I think we should really make them apply their 'knowledge' for once."

"You got it, baby!"

When Ekko turned his head at the sudden cold silence, Undine's eyebrow was at a dangerously high level, climbing further.  
"Don't you call me that." Her voice was sugary sweet. "I'm like five years or so older than you. Show some respect!"  
Ekko back-pedalled as quickly as he could, which made Undine laugh out loud, her serious face crumbling down like a sandcastle in the waves.

"I've had enough different names to last me a lifetime.", she said and looked down at her hands thoughtfully. Fidgeting, she added: "And I like when you call me Undine. You make it sound like I really am some mysterious water spirit."  
Ekko blushed, looked away and mumbled: "That's cause you still are a mystery to me."  
"One of the few ups of being a woman in this life.", she teased and stuck her tongue out at him. This was it, he'd had it. Ekko and pulled her into his lap. Her back to his chest, he hugged her close, burying his face in her hair.  
"I swear, from now on you will only ever experience the good sides to being a woman." His voice was muffled, but sincere. Undine had to bite her hand to keep from choking on the emotions welling up in her chest, as he kissed the nape of her neck. This was absolutely embarrassing... and totally not the right time. She fought to focus on what was happening below them again.

"Look, my security people caught on that it's not just a normal malfunction.", she exclaimed.  
Ekko didn't let go of her but put his chin on her shoulder to watch as well.

Sure enough, in the eastern wing of the building, people in black guards' uniforms were bravely entering the rooms with the contaminated air.

"There's nothing for them to find there, right?", she asked, picking up the tablet.  
"Nah, everything'll look just as it always does.", he replied. "They'll have to notice the changes in the main system. That'd bring them to said janitor and then they'll still have to trace back to this tablet, figure out it was stolen and find us here."  
"Seems like we'll have enough time for our picnic", Undine smirked. "Let's make sure they get some good exercise meanwhile." And with that she made one of the cooling tanks that was labelled 'frozen nitrogen' on the screen open and turned it off. From the lower windows on Ekko's side fog started wafting out.

* * *

They spend over two hours chasing the security personnel through the building, up and down stairs, back and forth. The doors on most bathrooms were locked and nobody could get them to open again. Lights went out and wouldn't turn on again, except for in the photography's dark room, where they stayed on permanently too bright. The lab rats were freed from their cages and ran around the buildings. The speaker-system was constantly announcing that this was just a test and nobody should worry, please. The hextech lab had been the most fun, as they had gotten everything that could move to dance a chacha around the room to the rhythm of the computers beeping.

* * *

Ekko was on the floor… roof laughing as Undine hijacked the botanist's greenhouse and turned the sprinklers on full force, making a few guards leave the room dripping wet. Of course they hadn't planned to hurt anybody and so far they seemed to have done well. The entire university was in uproar, researchers and professors trying to save their work and students sitting in the courtyard laughing.

Up until now, neither of the two security groups had done a very good job at understanding what was going on, though they had sat the caretaker down for some questions.

Then, the pad in Undine's hand started beeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3\. 80% of this piece of fiction was written on a phone on my way to and from the place I usually go to when it's not the weekend. Later that day I would reread and correct on a pc. That's dedication, my friends ;)
> 
> 4\. As a summoner, I do not own Ekko. I'm not sure if I ever will, to be honest. Though I did play him in the 'One for All' mode once and it has encouraged me to stick to my original resolution: admire from afar, for I do not do him justice. At all.
> 
> please take the time to comment/leave some love. You'd be my hero for the day :)


	19. Aw… who called the cops?

"What's wrong?", Ekko asked, still gasping for air from his recent laughing fit. "Is the battery about to die?"  
"No, somebody is trying to call. They must have finally noticed the pad is missing."  
The two let the beep echo over the rooftops until it stopped.

"They'll be coming soon.", Undine stated with a certainty to her voice that made Ekko sober up.  
"Why? Just because that one guy is now looking for his lost computer-device? It could take them forever to find us. There is no location info on that thing."  
"That's not it.", she replied calmly, pointing down past the edge of the roof. "Jayce has joined the team. And he seems to be connecting the dots."

Ekko moved over to her to look down into the courtyard as well, a sneer on his face. "Great.", he growled. "Posterboy really needs a beating up these days."  
"Ok. You kick Jayce's ass and I beat up Caitlyn and Vi in the meantime. NOT."

Ekko pouted like a child whose favourite toy had been taken away. "When did those two show up?"  
Undine pointed down again, to a different set of doors where the two cops just vanished from their view.  
"Just now, I believe." She grimaced and went back to the centre of the roof. The sun was setting behind her, outlining her slender silhouette in orange and red. "We should get ready to be able to leave any minute."

* * *

They packed up their things and Undine threw on the rucksack. Sitting down next to the edge of the roof, making sure no sniper could spot them from below, they made some last few preparations.

Ekko pulled his phone from his pocket and stared at it. For a while.

"Are you still afraid of calling?", Undine asked in disbelief. "I had to do it last time and I don't even speak her language properly."  
Ekko contorted his face as if in physical pain. "Try calling your crazy ex and see how that goes!"  
Undine sighed and snatched the phone from his hand. "I don't have any ex-boy- nor ex-girlfriends and you need to man up. I don't care what happened between you two back then, but you should get over it." She dialled and held the phone up to her ear and then, as an afterthought, added: "Well, I kinda do care, but this is not the time for that."

As the person on the other side answered, she removed the speaker a few centimetres from her ear again and mouthed 'I forgot she was LOUD' but then said: "Hey, Jinx, it's me again. Are you all set and ready to go? [...] Cool. [...] What? No, I don't really care. [...] What is that even supposed to mean? Just make sure nobody gets hurt, okbye!" She hastily hung up. "Seriously, how could you stand listening for that voice for so long?!"

Ekko just shrugged. He honestly didn't know any more.

But something else was bothering him.  
"Can you...", he started and had to think it over again. "Are you really sure that you can do that?! I know it was my idea, but still sounds risky."

She smiled confidently and sat up straighter. "I do think I can. Just you wait and see. And it's not all that risky when you're around, ready to save us last minute."

Ekko looked at her turn her head back to watch the commotion. There was something different about the way she held herself, more bounce to her step when she walked, more confidence to her voice when she talked. She was more beautiful then ever. He leaned over and kissed her full on the lips, the setting sun drenching them in red and gold.

This time, breaking apart was a joined effort. For a moment they lingered, faces barely an inch apart. It was one of those moments where time was only an optional addition to the setting. But there were people coming for them, they had to be ready.

"One last one?", Ekko whispered and Undine had to remind herself that it was not kisses he was talking about. So did he.  
"Go for it.", she said and Ekko pressed one last button in the tablet.  
In the entire building below them all electricity died. It added nicely to the scenery.  
Then she added: "I sure hope Jayce's not stuck in an elevator now. Wouldn't wanna wait that long, we have a train to catch after all."

* * *

They stood together in the middle of the roof, hand in hand, watching the sunset. It was already half dark when they heard the door to the tower-room below them open.

The sound of heavy foot steps, that meant Jayce. And then the trample of some brain-dead security zombies and then maybe some more. Seemed like none of them actually won the honour of glorious honour that night. Undine looked around, now where could Caitlyn have gone? They had to know where she was, trying to jump out of the line of a sniper shot was hard enough as it was, even if you knew where she was hiding. Ekko quietly nodded towards the eastern wing, having noticed one or two blinks of the days last rays of sunlight reflected on steel. Was this where she was setting up her rifle at this moment?  
Agitated voices drifted up through the air. Any second now… though their posture betrayed nothing, both were tensing up. This was a matter of real good timing now.

Ekko pulled the handle on his z-drive. The blue light enveloped them the moment Jayce hoisted himself onto the roof. He had them with their backs towards the eastern wing. So Ekko had been right about Cait's location. He felt a little uneasy knowing yet another gun was pointing at him, this time from behind as well.

Jayce stood, legs apart, shoulders squared, chin out, just like he always did on his posters. The huge hammer in his hand was humming softly. On his face, halfway hidden in the oncoming dark, was one of those looks of angry concern that parents use for their misbehaving children. It pissed Ekko off to no end, though he tried to keep his face calm.  
Jayce took a deep breath and asked with the voice of the righteously offended: "What are you doing here?! Are you even aware of the damage you have caused and the risk you have put people's lives at?"  
"I do believe we have done nothing of the aforementioned.", Undine replied politely and bowed. Ekko held up the hand with the tablet and added. "Have you come to look for this? We found it laying around and took it for safe-keeping. You never know with people these days." He shook his head as if he was honestly upset about it.

"Don't try to make a fool of me!", Jayce proclaimed and raised his hammer.

"Man...", Undine sighed. "You seemed so much nicer in the programs."  
"Yeah.", Ekko agreed. "I liked you better on paper, too. Posterboy." He threw the tablet at him and Jayce caught it out of reflex. He seemed to be contemplating on what to do with it and they took the chance to confuse him further.  
"Say, I have always wondered: How many Pilties does it take to make such a magnificent hammer?", Undine asked, face turned to be able to see both Ekko and Jayce. Former was raising said hammer already. Apparently, even the word 'Piltie' was not to his liking. The two of them took a step backwards, out of the weapons range, and another one. At the same time, Vi climbed onto the roof behind Jayce, grunting in disapproval as she spotted Ekko. The edge was scary close behind the couple and Jayce stood confidently, well aware of the advantage.

"Two.", Ekko replied to Undine's question, making it seem like he had politely waited for their opponent to answer, since he was the only real Piltie out of the four of them.  
"Two? How so?", she wondered, as if they hadn't rehearsed this before.

"Well, if you count Jayce's reflection." Ekko smirked. He had wanted to do this ever since he came up with the joke three years ago. Jayce though nearly choked on indignation and they could see Vi trying very hard not to smile.

Undine giggled cutely and sighed.  
"Oh, Jayce.", she said and blew him a kiss, raised her hand to her face, as if she was going to faint and quietly dropped backwards, pulling Ekko down into the fall with her. Above them on the roof, Jayce lunged forward but could only watch them descend further down alongside the building. It had been a high tower. About 20meter beneath them, the roof was in a hurry to meet up.

* * *

Ekko held on to her hand as tightly as he could. With their limbs stretched out, the fall was pretty stable, but looking upwards still made him feel very uncomfortable. Falling also made him very uncomfortable.

'Be quiet.', he said to himself. 'It's your job to watch out for Jayce and Caitlyn now.' He tilted his head backwards to catch a glimpse of the sniper. There she was, aiming to where they were going to land. As was Jayce. They didn't trust death by physics apparently and seemed to have given up on simply apprehending today's criminals.  
Beside him, even over the wind in his ears, he could hear Undine count. Her face was scrunched up in concentration. He gripped her hand even tighter.  
'I have to trust her', he said to himself. And found that he actually did trust her with his life. Not that he had a choice at this moment.

He could feel his heart beating in his throat and ears. His free hand was on his chest to keep the fall stable, yet ready to turn the dial on his glove of needed. It trembling slightly. Even with their relatively slow fall they must be very close to the roof underneath them by now. He clenched his teeth and hoped for the best, the seconds passing them by like colourful fish, swimming back and forth, nudging them and hurrying off in surprise.  
There must have been mere centimetres between them and the roof of the main building track, when Ekko felt the familiar yanking at the nape of his neck. Two times. And then he did as Undine had told him to in preparation for this. He got ready. Then, suddenly, His feet connected with the ground with too much force and he rolled off over his shoulder and back onto his feet. The momentum carried him forward and he kept up and sprinted along the roof of the eastern building.

To his right, Undine had just gotten back up onto her feet as well. To Ekko's horror, he watched as her foot caught on the tiles of the roof and she stumbled. Before he could even react, not that he would have been able to stop now even he'd tried, she flickered and reappeared a meter ahead, upright and already running with him again.

At neck-breaking speed they raced over the roof, headed towards Caitlyn. She was over the shock of seeing them survive the fall totally unharmed and Ekko found himself yet again staring down the barrel of a gun. He changed his course a little to be closer to Undine, who gave him a barely noticeable nod and motioned behind her. Ekko shortly checked on Jayce, who seemed to be charging up to fire at them as well. Good thing is projectiles where noisy. Just what was it with these people and destroying city property?

"Jayce in two.", he shouted at the girl who was still staring at Caitlyn.

Undine's eyes narrowed.

"They're up to something clever."', she remarked and reached out for Ekko's hand. Clinging together like this, they had to slow down remarkably, which would make aiming even easier for their hunters.

Ekko heard the dreaded swooshing of Jayce's shot behind them, but a glance revealed that that the aim had been just slightly off. It would hit the roof in front of them.  
"We can jump over it!", he yelled and instantly both got ready. Knees bending lower, steps getting shorter, tension rising.  
A split-second before the impact, he could hear the projectile passing by over their heads and both took this as their cue to jump. Their feet lifted off the ground in sync, just as the bullet slammed into the roof, tiles shattering and flying everywhere, dust billowing up and enveloping them. Both lifted their free arms to shield their eyes from the flying debris.

As they emerged on the other side of the cloud Ekko's heart froze in terror as he lifted his arm in time to see Caitlyn pull the trigger. The mere 40meters the separated them would never be enough time to land and evade. The bullet was slicing through the air at an incredibly high speed and Ekko could damn well nearly see his life flash before his eyes as the projectile came closer and closer, while his left hand was moving towards his right glove as fast as possible.

Old habits die hard.

* * *

Then, a tightened grip on his hand, a yanking, nothing and suddenly, no bullet.  
From behind him, a simple thud signalled the projectile burying itself into the walls of the tower.

"You're rubbing off on me.", Undine panted, letting his hand go again for easier running as their feet connected to the ground. "I never used to be such a show-off." She shook her head at herself, but couldn't help but smile a little.  
Jumping through the bullet milliseconds before it would hit you when you could have just dodged downwards or up… did sound pretty cool.  
"I'm not _that_ bad.", Ekko shouted back, though only half-heartedly.

There were now less than 10meters between them and Caitlyn.

Jayce's hammer couldn't fire that far. In addition, he probably wouldn't risk shooting the police woman. Question was, would Caitlyn try to fire again? Her eyes said 'Yes' and her body language said 'I have one more shot left and I will hit you this time!'. She took aim once more.  
Ekko could sense Undine trying to grab his hand but trying to flicker with that little time to react seemed too risky. There was something else he could do himself. He increased his speed even more, going as fast as he could, Caitlyn's hand on the trigger, finger bending inward. Ekko lunged, rolled and Caitlyn shot.

The barrel of her rifle was pointing off to the side, Ekko's sword having knocked it aside in the last moment, the second bullet whizzing over the roofs of Piltover. The boy's cheeky grin as wide as as Caitlyn's eyes. A split-second they were face to face. Then, Ekko felt a hand grab his arm and Undine pull him with up and with her. Two steps behind Caitlyn the roof ended and they took the leap, hand in hand.

Over the city in front of them, a spectacular firework erupted.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5\. Before I started publishing the story, the first 15 chapters were all done, save corrections and adjustments. As well as the very last one. I didn't really know how to get there but I was going to get there eventually. And guess what, it all worked out just fine :D
> 
> Please review, comment, give me feedback, tell me about your favourite champion or cat - and eternal gratitude to you ;)


	20. Welcome to Zaun!

There were blazing reds and blues, sparks of pink, flowers of white, cascades of purple and hanging above all else, a big, huge, bright sparkling pink 'X'.  
The crackling and blasting sounds of the explosions were so overwhelming that Ekko had to shout to make himself heard over the blasts and the wind from falling down yet another tall building.  
"I thought we were supposed to call her when it's time to start?!"  
"That's what I told her the first time!", Undine yelled back. "Call her at about sundown for actual set-off time!"  
Ekko rolled his eyes. "With that wording, she 100% only heard 'sundown' and went for it."  
"How should I have known?!", Undine bit back, turning her head to glare at him. "She's your ex not mine!"  
"Could you please focus on getting us down safely!?", he squeaked – not that he would ever admit it – he interrupted, as he saw the ground started coming closer and closer. And no, seeing it didn't make falling any less stressful.

Undine took it in stride, or maybe she hadn't heard him.

With the fireworks flashing and burning out, Ekko could only guess what was waiting for them underneath. He remembered the huge staircase (ouch), the side walk of stone (ouch) and the trees that had enclosed the little park right in front of the main gates (ouch).

Without a warning Undine flickered, a mere three or so meters above the ground. What followed was the longest and most terrifying split-second of Ekko's life.

Undine had moved them forward into a tree. What might seem like a good idea to cushion the fall, didn't do any of that. They reappeared in the top branches, literally. Ekko lost a lot of momentum as his body was trying to move on still but found that the branch that was now part of his chest wouldn't. They didn't spend enough time like that for it to start hurting but with the surprised breath he tried to take, it registered with him: he couldn't have breathed in if he wanted to. The branch through his chest connected a few of his ribs on both sides and wouldn't allow for any movement. Neither did those through his legs, ankle, right arm and hip. The experience would haunt him for weeks. How many times had Undine gone through this as 'the thing wasn't too good with location' yet? He didn't even want to think about it.

They flickered again.  
More branches.  
They flickered again.

To Ekko's relief he found himself standing freely on a blanket in the midst of what was obviously a group of students enjoying the extra day off with a drink under the fireworks.  
There was a moment of awkward silence.  
"The view from up there is awesome.", Undine supplied and lifted a finger to her mouth, signalling them to stay silent. The students nodded and she winked in reply.  
Without another word the two of them dashed off towards the train station.

In the sky above them, the firework crackled on.

The plan was to get to the station, get their luggage from the coin lockers and jump on the next train headed toward the League's island, all before the police had time to set up controls. If they were to be too slow or Caitlyn too fast, they could still hope that everybody would assume them to go back to Zaun and block off the harbour first.  
Either way, they had to hurry.  
After two blocks, the couple slowed down to a jog. Slow and steady wins the race, as they say.

"Well, that was fun.", Undine wheezed, grinning ear to ear. "Cool thing that I could really use external energy to flicker. Thanks for the idea!"  
"You did it before, you just hadn't realized that you did it. I still wish you'd have fully tested it beforehand though!", Ekko murmured, also slightly out of breath. "Doing it a little without realizing is something entirely different that relying on it! Just because it worked that one time you showed me Zaun from above… I mean, I had been thinking, wondering about it a little since then, but you just dived in at the deep end.".  
"Oh, don't be such a spoilsport!", she teased. "It worked, didn't it? It worked then and now, so it's all good!"

Speeding up again, she cheered: "This firework is great! I don't wanna know just how many factories she emptied for that though." Ekko followed suit, a little light-headed with the excitement as well.  
"Probably all of them."

They steered through the crowds of people gathering in the streets to watch the spectacle above them.

Jinx had incorporated a lot of the 'X's and it made Ekko at least a little proud that she would remember how to do it so well. In front of him, Undine was gesturing for him to hurry up. He sped up his steps again and followed her dancing through the crowd, around groups of people, all to the beat of the rockets going off. Soon, he fell into a dream-like state as he took step after step to an unknown yet mesmerizing rhythm. Ekko watched as she bounced and twirled past bystanders with a grace he hadn't seen her show before, and found himself entranced by the looks she threw him over her shoulder, or during a turn, by the way her hair and backpack jumped up and down with the steps and the flashes of different-coloured light illuminated her features.

He was a little disappointed when they had already reached the station in what felt like few heartbeats.

Since most people had gone outside, the halls of the station were eerily deserted. That also meant the police hadn't made their move yet and nobody would stop them on their way. With the appropriate speed for travellers about to miss their train they hurried to the lockers, got the two bags and walked out onto the platforms.

And found themselves facing the back of a very sweaty Vi, yelling at the station employee to stop all trains right this instant.  
They exchanged glances.  
She must have sprinted the entire way to get down the tower and here before they did.

"What should we do?", Undine mouthed. Ekko looked back at Vi and her conversation partner. The clerk seemed to be stressed out and had obviously no idea if a rowdy-looking little girl like the one in front of him was really a police officer he should listen to.

"Miss, I cannot just stop the entire traffic just because you ask me to, I need something more off..." Vi was obviously very pissed off and shoved her badge into his face.  
"Will this do?", she shouted at him.  
"But the entire traffic? It will take…"  
Ekko took the chance and dragged Undine off to the side by her arm and down the platform to the very far end.

The train they were planning on taking was a carriage that would depart from one of the business platforms further away. According to schedule, they had about three and a half minutes left to get on.  
Climbing down onto the tracks, they silently stole across them, from shadow to shadow, away from the still yelling Vi.

Ekko easily found the train they had looked for (the League's logo was plastered on every available space) and helped Undine climb up into one of the carriages. It was full of sacks of rice, could be worse. He followed and right at that moment the train whistle blew and the engine started accelerating slowly.

Vi's shouting in the background intensified, a lot louder now than before. Ekko stuck his head out and saw her racing across the tracks like they had a mere minute ago. She might have had a hunch or seen them doing so, but she would never make it in time to stop them.  
He raised his hand and waved at her, smiling broadly.  
"Get your ass over here right this instant you little shit!", Vi barked at him. "You ain't getting away with this, Ekko!"  
He just saluted her, hanging out the side of the train by one arm and shouted back over the screeching of the moving train. "Oh, come on, pushover. At least let me celebrate my getting into the League." His voice was dripping in sarcasm by the last few words. "Just like my idol."

Vi froze in shock and totally forgot that she had been chasing after them.  
"The League?!", she asked in disbelief, rooted to the spot. "YOU?!"

"SEE YA THERE!", Ekko yelled but she could probably guess rather than hear what he had said.

Then the officer vanished out of sight behind a bend.

After they had taken off their backpacks, Ekko found a way to safely climb onto the roof. Dangling their feet off the edge, leaning on each other, the pair watched the fireworks still ablaze in the distance as the train rattled onwards.

It looked beautiful even from so far away. Colourful, sparkly and bright above the dark city.

Ekko's phone rang and he answered.  
It was Jinx, so loud, Undine could clearly hear what she was saying.  
"Whadya think?", she asked proudly. "As promised, nobody got hurt. I think. Would've been more fun but whatevs."  
Ekko seemed to be struggling for words but managed somehow. "Thanks, Jinx. It was quiet the celebration."  
On the other side of the line, Jinx giggled. It look a while for her to stop.  
"Well, anything less would have been laaahaaaaame. And since the Cookie got into the League we had to do something proper."  
"Please don't call me that.", he interrupted, but Jinx couldn't and wouldn't be stopped.  
"I wish I had seen fathands face, though. Was is good?! Was she really super-annoyed?"  
"That sums it up pretty well.", Ekko replied.  
"Awesome!", Jinx cheered. In the background a few more rockets exploded loudly. "Well, I gotta bounce. Have some left on other rooftops, I'm kinda feeling quite charitable tonight, gonna give the Pilties a different kinda show for once. See you around, Ekko and what's-her-face!" And the line cut off.

Ekko looked a little shaken.

"So she does sometimes listen to what I say."  
Undine laughed. "Maybe there is a lovely polite girl inside her just dying to get out!"  
To which Ekko could only snort. "I agree on the dying part."

He put his arm around her waist and pulled Undine closer again, resting his head against hers. She picked up his free hand and held it, fingers entwined, in her lap.  
They watched in silence for another while. Jinx really had created the most magnificent firework. Too soon, Piltover was lost in the distance that was their old lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 6\. Most of the plot-twists were added in later on. As this is a character-driven story, Undine and Ekko developed as I worked and rewrote and in the end I felt like I had no say in the matter whatsoever xD  
> 7\. Also, our heroine is named after the water spirit from the Tales of Games (because again I was too lazy to think about it too much) and that's where she got her alias "Estellize" from as well. Even though I didn't even like Vesperia that much xD
> 
> And that's it with this part and my totally unnecessary information at the end of chapters :)  
> PLEASE take the time to review, even if it's just a word or two. It counts towards your good deed a day!


	21. That fresh start smell

_Only a few months later found Ekko struggling to wake up as the sun started to creep above the line of the horizon, the sea outside the bedroom window reflecting the specks of light and drenching the world in sparkles._  
Waking up had turned out to be by far the hardest part of his life lately.  
It was terribly warm underneath the covers, but he didn't feel like shaking them off any time soon.  
Undine's back was pressed flush against his chest, his left arm looping around her waist, hand resting atop her sternum so he could feel the beating of her heart both in his fingers and next to his own. The closeness, skin on skin, the cocoon of blankets enveloping them created a warmth to protect them from the slightly chilly breeze from the sea that came in throughthe open window.  
No, he really did not want to wake up yet, so Ekko pushed the idea that he wasn't properly sleeping any more anyway as far away as he could, holding on to the dreamlike state for a little longer. His face was pressed against the sleeping girl's neck and he breathed her scent in as deeply as he could. The now familiar smell of the new soap she had taken to using once they had arrived on the League's island, the way her hair smelled the day after a being washed, a faint trace of sweat from being wrapped up under the covers all night, the typical scent of her skin.  
Undine.  
Her skin was soft beneath his fingers, her hair spread out across the pillows, the part above her neck just recently shaved short again. Even though she was facing away from him, he could hear her breath falling from her parted lips.  
The simplicity and purity of the scene was mesmerizing and Ekko tightened his grip without realizing, not wanting to let go of any of it. Moment ticked by, slowly, yet determinedly so. He refused to acknowledge them. Right now, there was only him, the morning sun and Undine, fast asleep in his arms. Gently, he lifted his head a bit, eyes still closed, to kiss the soft skin under her jaw.  
It was just like magic, until a seagull flew by the window, breaking the spell with an eardrum-shattering scream and Ekko was alone in bed again. Just like he had been every single morning for the last 7 weeks. Every single morning turning out to be yet the toughest of his live, as he dreamed of Undine, a girl that he loved and that was no longer by his side.

_Throwing the covers off himself, he lay staring at the empty ceiling until it got to cold to bear any longer. Ekko got up to go about the morning routine he had established for himself ever since then. The hot shower warmed his cold body up again, but did nothing to defrost the lump of ice that seemed to have replaced his heart. He got out, towelled himself dry and threw on some of his standard pants and a shirt, opting to walk around the cold floor of the kitchen bare-footed while making his coffee. The time the kettle took to boil he used to style his hair and messily paint the hourglass back onto his face. Picking up his mug, he walked over to the apartment door and opened it, just before Jinx got the chance to knock._

" _I told you to stop.", he scolded her, coffee still in hand. "Stop. Coming. To. Check. On. Me. Every. Goddamn. Morning."  
Jinx, though having been through this enough times, still seemed to be caught off guard and took a second to gather her bearings. The disoriented look in her eyes was quickly replaced by the usual mad spark as she remembered what she wanted to say and pointed a finger at his chest, exclaiming: "You have been chosen to be my shooting practice partner for today!"  
Ekko raised an eyebrow. "By whom?"  
_" _Me!", Jinx squealed and jumped a little on the spot. "It's gonna be FUN! F.U.N.! I booked the shooting range for us, Miss Fortune's coming, too. And I got some cool Piltie-looking targets and maybe..." She dragged the last word out for as long as she could. "Maybe, I'll let you play with PowPow. She's been_ dying _to meet you!"  
Ekko slouched a little more, nearly spilling some hot coffee on his bare feet in the process.  
_" _Jinx.", he replied, not looking at her. "I really don't feel like shooting practice today. Tell PowPow I'm sorry."_

 _Jinx exploded straight away. Ekko didn't even so much as blink.  
_ " _You are soooo boring, staying in all freaking_ month _, sulking, writing funny things in those notebooks of yours! We never get to do anything interesting around here any more!"  
_ " _Jinx.", he interrupted, voice a little hoarse. "I'm sorry. I just don't feel like it yet. Please understand."  
The girl didn't really know how to react to that, taken aback and visibly deflating. She started to uncomfortably fiddle with her fingers, staring at her shoes. Stealing a quick glance at Ekko's tired-looking face, Jinx took a deep breath but he cut her off straight away again.  
_" _No.", he said curtly. And then a little softer. "Listen, Jinx. It's not your fault, you're not responsible for what happened in any way, so you don't have to try to make up for it. And you can tell Braum the exact same thing."  
_ " _But!", she yelped, almost sad-looking. "I just wanna help."  
_ " _No buts.", Ekko stopped her. "Though I'm glad you started listening to Fishbones every now and then."_  
The girl sheepishly looked at the rocket-launcher on her shoulder, still fidgeting.

_An awkward silence ensued and Ekko sipped his coffee, leaning onto the door-frame._

_Jinx cleared her throat."Made any progress with… you know!?"  
He only shook his head.  
_" _There really is nothing we can do, right?", Jinx whispered. Ekko could only think of one time he had ever heard her talk so quietly before. That had been seven weeks ago.  
_ " _Some things just need time, Jinx.", he replied, throat tight._

_She nodded and looked him in the eyes once more. He could see how hard she was fighting her own constant giddiness to remain calm for even this long, but there was also honest concern. And impatience, lots of it. Ekko couldn't blame her for that either, he was getting rather impatient with himself. But the same dream kept coming back to him every night, and so far he treasured every moment he still got to spend with Undine, any way possible, reliving the most precious of mornings time and time again in his sleep. He knew there would come a day when he wouldn't dream of her, when he would wake up and not feel the absence of her like a hole in his chest. Ekko also knew that that day was not tomorrow, nor the day after.  
Nodding in goodbye like every morning, the two silently turned around. Jinx walked away, Ekko closed the door and resisted the urge to slump against it and slide down onto the floor._

" _Some things just take time.", he said to no-one in particular. "And even then, they're never the same."  
_

* * *

As the train stopped, fog started crawling into the compartment. Ekko woke shivering despite the nest of rice sacks and extra jumper.  
Without a word but with much yawning he climbed down from the carriage. The world was mainly fog, you couldn't see much further than your arm was long. He sneezed.

"I think I can smell the sea.", Undine remarked from behind him hanging out the door of the carriage. Ekko stuck his nose out into the slight breeze. It was unmistakable.  
Quietly they gathered their belongings and made their way towards what they hoped to be the docks to catch the ferry over onto the island of the War Institute.  
As the breeze grew stiffer, the fog around them started to twirl and dance like some magic spirit, which looked nice but didn't help with the walking, so they stumbled and traipsed along the train towards the front.

Ekko heard Undine yelp somewhere to his front right and his arm shot out on instinct, grabbing something that turned out to be her shoulder, stopping her from falling over.  
She made a sound somewhere between choking and a whimper and clung to his arm.  
"What happened?", he asked. "Twist your ankle?"  
Undine hissed in return. "This is _not_ some cheap Piltover romantic comedy. But I think this is were our walk ends for the day."  
Ekko raised an eyebrow, which of course she couldn't see. "What makes you say that?" He stuck out his left foot to check the ground, Undine pulling his upper body backwards. There was no ground. Thinking about it now, it smelled even more salty and the breeze was stronger and there was the sound of waves.  
"I see now.", he said out loud and stood back carefully. "Kinda."

"Where should we go?", Undine asked timidly, turning from left to right.  
"I have no idea where the harbour should be.", Ekko replied and shrugged helplessly. "It looked so easy to find that ferry on the map… Vision would be nice."

"Can me help ya, Sir?", said a deep, male voice from in front of them and they jumped back in terrified surprise or surprised terror. Ekko didn't really see the difference there.  
Neither of them could come up with a reply. There were too many questions as to that voice's owner, the nature of his business with them, the means by which he was standing on water and why anyone would call them 'Sir'.  
As the silence stretched on, a small and faint lamp went on in front of them, shedding some light in the fog by making shadows visible. There appeared to be steps in front of them, leading down to the wooden quay on which the speaker stood. He coughed and went on. "If Sir and Lady be so kind as to get on me boat, me'll get ya to the island. Have orders to set ya over."

Ekko gingerly stepped onto the wooden planks of the quay that made protesting yet wet noises in return.

"Careful it's slippery.", he warned over his shoulder and Undine scoffed in return. The 'Sir's and 'Lady's were bringing out the romantic comedy again. She could damn well watch her step herself.

Before Ekko, the fog was peeling away with the light and every step closer to reveal the most prototypical captain-of-a-small-vessel. Striped shirt, captain's hat, beard, pipe and one hell of a tan, which overall seemed legitimate but not especially trustworthy. The crisp emblem of the League on the quay, the side and top of the boat as well as the captain's hat however seemed fine. The train diver chose this moment to walk up behind them and scare them yet again.

He didn't pay the kids any attention though, just nodded at the boatsman and threw a bag at him. It also sported a League's emblem.  
"Can you take the mail with you?", he rumbled in the deep voice of a chain smoker. "Unloading and loading the ship will take forever and there's a few urgent ones in there."  
The captain caught it and nodded back, lifting his hat a little in greeting. Then he gestured for Ekko and Undine to follow him, kindly helped them over the small bridge onto his ship and gave them blankets and tea to keep them warm in the windy backseats.

* * *

Apparently becoming part of the League meant a lot of paperwork. A Lot. Of. Paperwork. There had been an office clerk waiting for them to arrive, having been called by their captain earlier. The plain, easy-to-forget young man had taken them to what could pass as the town hall but was actually just the League's office building. The fog hadn't been as bad on the island itself, so Ekko had been able to see up the 6 stories of dark stone and dark windows.

"Looks very inviting.", he had murmured to himself and Undine had nudged him between the ribs with a light smile, mentioning for him to follow the clerk who was already up the first flight of stairs. She had then been required to stay outside the office, while Ekko was presented with form after form after form.

There was a form to state that he was to join the League as an official champion, including his payment, insurance and marketing conditions  
There was a form making him eligible to be an inhabitant of the League's island, and – most importantly – his political immunity from here on if he stayed here, including all people accompanying him in all benefits the champion was to experience.  
There was a form making him eligible to use the health-care system for the champions.  
There was a form saying that he'd pay for anything on the island he might blow up or damage in any other way.  
There was a form making him eligible for free but simple housing at all times he didn't have a place rented or bought for himself.  
There was a form on regulations concerning visitors.  
There was a form on proper conduct between champions.  
There was a form on proper conduct before, during and after matches.  
There were too many forms. But Ekko read them all before signing. By the time he left the room, keys to an apartment in hand, the sun had risen well above the horizon, the fog had cleared and Undine was reading a book, lounging on a chair across the hall. When she spotted Ekko, she jumped up, handed him his bag and excitedly bounced off towards the stairs.  
He slowly followed.

"Are we finally off to our new home?", she asked over her shoulder, a few steps further down the stairs.  
"I have the keys and got some of my pay upfront so we can settle in for now.", he replied, yawning. "I think I just getting there sounds good enough for me. We can do all the settling in after a break."  
Undine grinned. "So it shall be done." And she skipped on ahead.

Suddenly, Ekko remembered something and slapped his hand on his face, hitting himself with the keys in the process. "Aww… I forgot to ask _where_ the apartments are.", he whined and started turning on his heels to drag himself back up the stairs. Undine's hand shot out to stop him, pulling him forward again.  
"I got you.", she laughed. "The way to the League of Legend owned champions' apartment block is right here, memorized in my head. You don't want to know just how many pamphlets and flyers I read today. Let's go, Ekko! To the new world!"

He trudged along behind her bouncing steps, a tired frown on his face.

She looked as if viewed from an old television set around the edges again.

* * *

The key turned in the lock with a welcoming clicking noise. The door opened to reveal their new apartment to them, the light from the windows pooling around their feet.

It was big enough, there were two rooms, basic furniture and some dishes and other necessities. The windows of the living room stretched from the floor to the ceiling and opened towards the south onto a fourth floor balcony, showing a lovely view of the harbour. He could get used to this, Ekko decided.

Undine took his bag from his hand and put it next to were she had already unloaded her rucksack onto the couch. Ekko closed the door behind them and put the key on the matching holder. This was home now.  
A sigh fell from his lips and was abruptly cut off as his back collided with the wall, arms raised and nailed to the surface behind him.  
Undine's body was pressed flush against his, their faces barely an inch apart.  
"Welcome home, Ekko.", she breathed against his lips, then closed the last bit of distance between them.  
Soon, her hands dropped from his raised arms to his shoulders, lightly tracing up and down his neck.  
Ekko felt his knees go weak. Only partly not to slide down the wall, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her even closer in the process. The sun falling in through the window warmed them, the seagulls from the harbour screeching away in the far distance.  
Yes, he could definitely get used to this.  
Undine pressed in even closer, creating a pleasant friction in all the right places and Ekko's pulse sped up further. She gave an approving little moan as he picked her up to officially make this house and bed theirs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, please take the time to leave a few words; feedback, love, hate, comments and short poems, I'll read them all!


	22. Every rule needs a break

Undine pulled the curtain of the small dressing room aside, whilst managing to hide behind it still.

She had just the day before gotten her first job at a bakery in the centre of town. The small family business couldn't pay her much, but it was everything the young woman had hoped for in regards to work setting and co-workers. With her first bit of steady income, she had dragged Ekko off to help find a new set of clothing for herself. It was not that Ekko really needed the pieces she had been borrowing back, but she wanted the change and he would not be complaining about seeing her in better fitting clothes.

"I don't know...", she whined and looked at her boyfriend pleadingly. "Can I really…?"  
"Of course you can, if you want to." He was lounging in the ever-present boyfriend chair, waiting patiently for her to try on some new things. It was obvious how big of a moment this was for the young woman; Undine had never bought clothing for the sake of it, for the sake of looking nice and feeling comfortable, rather than having something to hide in.

Ekko had coaxed her into trying a skirt.  
Undine didn't seem to sure about it yet.

Gingerly, she stepped out and gave a little twirl, ending with her face to the mirror.  
"Really, a skirt? I don't remember ever wearing one… must have back when I was a kid.", she murmured, tugging it up and back down self-consciously. "Doesn't it get cold? Can I jump around with this without everybody catching a glimpse?"  
"We can get you tights for winter.", Ekko commented. She still wasn't sold.  
"I don't really feel comfortable in this… it's a little scary to be honest…"  
Ekko shrugged his shoulders and said: "That's fine, you know. You don't have to like it, just get something else."

Undine pouted a little, watching him in the mirror. "But I want you to like it, too."  
To which Ekko could only smile. She'd look great in a bloody Cho'Gath-costume, if she wanted to. Pun intended.  
"Look, you can wear whatever you want. The only thing I will complain about is if other people get to see things they really shouldn't."

The corners of her lips twitched a little before she gave a full-blown smile and quickly ran off into the shop, just to hurry back into the fitting room again. A minute later she reappeared, this time practically jumping out and striking a pose. She had picked a pair of simple, sturdy grey jeans and a light green shirt underneath a loose yellow raincoat. It was practical, it fit, there was colour which was new and yet she seemed ok standing outside her old tiny comfort-zone.  
"I'll get these then.", Undine stated and grinned.  
Adorable.

* * *

A few nights later, still on their first week on the League's island, Ekko and Undine were lounging on their new couch watching one of these bad Piltover romance films on their awesome new huge television set that neither of them particularly loved but both found oddly hilarious.

Undine's brow was raised in a constant state of amusement and disbelieve.  
"Why?", she wondered. "Just why does every person in this film look the same, maybe with a change of hair colour?"  
Ekko just shrugged.  
"And I mean, look at the main guys!", she went on. "They all look like copies of fucking Jayce and this time they _didn't_ even change the colour settings. Where do they get such good copies of people?!"  
Ekko snorted in response and ventured forth a guess: "Maybe they managed to bioengineer a tree that grows Jayces, two a year sounds reasonable."  
"You mean like a _Jayce_ nut tree?", Undine elaborated, snickering. "Would you have to help the little Jayces to get out of their shell?"  
Ekko's face was sporting a full-on grin as he delivered the final blow: "I think they'd be called _Jayce_ lings." which had Undine literally falling off the couch laughing.

There was a knock on their new door to their new apartment, which the girl missed over her laughing fit.  
Who would come visit them at this time of night?, Ekko wondered as he got up to answer. Nobody had really visited the pair so far. There had been Ekko's new coach that had come by the first morning to pick him up for a tour and introduction to his training regime. The marketing-person had been over one evening, as they had forgotten to ask some important question during the day. And then of course there had been the postman, a lovely chap that would give either of them tips on what to do around the island while handing over the stacks of paperwork Ekko had to deal with on a daily basis now.

* * *

It was, however, Jinx who was on the other side of the door.

The moment it was open, she flung herself at Ekko and gave him a bone-cracking hug, her unnaturally long blue twin braids swinging around her with the movement. Before he could do or say anything, she let go of him again and danced into the room to greet Undine as well.  
"Jinx, wha…?", was all the other girl could get out before the air was pressed out of her lungs, too.  
"Yes, Jinx!", the skinny one yelled, let go and saluted. "I, the one and only Jinx, have come to invite you to your very own Welcome Party, which is to be held right now, outside your door." The proclamation was met with awkward silence, in which Jinx bounced up and down a little.  
"You, the wha… what? Party?!", Ekko managed to get out. Undine could see the discomfort in his posture. Poor boy still didn't know how to deal with his ex-girlfriend. It made her just a little jealous.

"Just have a look already!", Jinx squealed and pushed him towards the balcony, talking loudly at high speed, Undine getting up to follow in tow. "Everyone – well, not really _everyone_ but you get what I mean – came by and there's some food and drinks and getting to know people – that can be a little awkward but you'll be _fine_. Not everybody gets along with everybody, but it's pretty relaxed around here, no mortal enemies and stuff, _mostly_ that is."  
They stepped out into the night and looked down onto the front garden of the champion's apartments.  
The usually quiet and dark little park in front of the building was alight and bustling with life.  
There was a huge group of people chatting, drinking and having a good time, as it seemed. Somebody had set up an enormous barbecue right next to a table overflowing with salads of all types, breads, snacks, other things, cakes and some things Ekko had never seen before and wasn't sure he wanted to try. On the other side of the garden was a makeshift bar, supplying drinks as well as background music to the scene. People were standing around in groups, sitting on picnic blankets, on folding chairs or simply on the grass in the mild summer night.  
Ekko was baffled. How did he not notice this going on right outside his window? Sure, he'd had another long and draining day, but it looked like half the island had come around to party.

Jinx put her arms around their shoulders, squeezing her head between theirs and screamed "Look who's here!", down to the partying champions.  
Most raised their heads, gave a wave and a cheer and called for the trio to come down.

Ekko and Undine exchanged glances.  
This was turning out to be the second most unreal night of their lives.  
Well, at least Jayce wasn't there.

* * *

Jinx had dragged them downstairs straight away, refusing to listen to their protesting. A big party with lots and lots of strangers was not what the two had imagined for their Thursday night in. Once outside the night greeted them with more cheers and beer pressed into their hands and the sudden disappearance of Jinx.  
The pair stood at the sidelines awkwardly, neither really knowing how to strike up a conversation with the guests of 'their' party. This was not their kind of evening.

Lucky for them, two women took the initiative, one throwing her long black hair over her shoulder and giving them a stern gaze.  
"You two.", Caitlyn stated and gave a curt nod. "I am Caitlyn, the sheriff of the Piltover police force and this is my Captain Vi, but I have a feeling you know that already."  
There was silence, the two newbies to the island frozen on the spot. Ekko wasn't too sure if the 'form on proper conduct between champions' had given any instructions on how to handle this situation.  
"Don't you want to introduce us to that friend of yours, Ekko?", Vi asked with one of her more scary smiles.  
"Ehr… yes.", Ekko forced out, totally forgetting that it mightn't be the smartest idea to give them his girlfriends name. But then, it wasn't as if she _really_ had a name. "This is Undine. Undine, you know them already. Vi and I used to be friends a long… a while ago." He didn't know how to continue. Were the two cops trying to back them into some sort of corner?  
But Caitlyn just raised her top-hat in greeting. Noticing the pairs discomfort she herself couldn't stop the little upward twitch of the corners of her mouth.  
"Don't worry.", she said a little reluctantly. "We're not here to arrest you, not that we could any way as long as you're here."

There was more stunned silence.

Then Vi gave in with a sigh and explained. "The little stunt you pulled… nobody is pressing charges as of yet, so there's nothing for us to do. But trust me on  
this one.", and she fixed a stern gaze on Ekko. "If I ever catch you in that city again, young _champion_ , you're gonna get the beating of your life!"  
Undine and Ekko exchanged glances. This was really happening, was it. Ekko considered this an offering of truce.

"Well in that case...", Undine piped up, still rather confused. "Nice to meet you. Thank you for coming to… or being part of this lovely belated welcome."  
"Our pleasure.", Caitlyn replied, gesturing for them to follow. "How about a cupcake? I made them myself."  
"Yeah, sure… ", Ekko mumbled, actually not quite so sure when he thought about it. Caitlyn could have poisoned the cakes, or maybe she was a terrible cook and he'd have to be polite about it while dying, too. Nevertheless, he said thank you like the good boy his mother had raised him to be when handed one of the salted caramel chocolate cupcakes. They were pretty good.

"After all… ", VI added around a mouthful of pastry. "… we might have to fight together again now, too, Ekko. No point in keeping the bad blood boiling. As long as you don't try to follow in our blue-haired friend's footsteps."  
To which Ekko could only nod grumpily.  
"And considering what you did on your little adventure, I think it's going to be quite a bit of fun.", the sheriff added. "Although I still haven't got a clue as to how you dodged my first shot."  
And the boy found himself agreeing with them. He was starting to get really excited about this League of Legends business now that reality was sinking in.

* * *

"I never would have though Ahri would be such good friends with Draven.", Ekko, the latest addition to the champion roster commented on the only two people currently dancing and laughing in front of the speakers.  
"Nobody expected them to get along.", Ezreal agreed, chewing on a chicken leg. "But it seems to have become a very close friendship as well."  
"I reckon it's because of the pheromones.", Nidalee chimed in.  
Vel'koz rolled most of his eyes and in an oddly human gesture rested what Ekko suspected equalled his head upon one of this tentacles. "Yet another thing I don't understand about humans. Would you please explain, Nidalee?"  
"When Ahri first got here, she told me she always had such a hard time finding friends. With girls it was ok, though often they would be intimidated, but well…" She made an unspecific gesture with her hands and continued. "But it was impossible for her to find male friends, because they would always find her _too_ sexually attractive, partly because of you know..." Again a gesture, this time pointing toward specific parts of the female body.  
"Because she has nice boobs.", Ezreal supplied and earned himself a hard punch on the shoulder by Lux. " _Ouch_ , that hurt…."  
Nidalee continued undeterred. "And partly because of her smell. She just smells – attractive for the lack of a better word." Which earned her a more friendly kind of punch and a wink by Lux.

"But how does that explain her friendship with Draven?", Ekko asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.  
"I guess that would be because Draven is immune to her dose of pheromones.", Ezreal ventured and stuffed some more food into his mouth.  
"He is very much in love with himself.", Vel'koz tried to help.  
"You mean he wanks to a picture of himself at night.", Lux specified and got a round of horrified stares at her choice of words. "What?", she asked defiantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah Lux, watch your language xD


	23. Never look back

It was nearing midnight and Undine was currently enjoying a glass of chilled white wine with Miss Fortune and Janna. The three had found a small table and some chairs for themselves and settled down somewhere near the bar, Graves happily wiping the counter in the background, lost in his own little world, humming a tune around his cigar.

"Have you got anything to occupy your days yet?", Janna asked, floating a few centimetres above her seat.  
"I got a job in the cutest little bakery.", Undine informed proudly. "You should try the cakes someday. We also have a little café, very comfortable and relaxing."  
"You're selling it really well, I might come over for my afternoon read then, someday.", the white-haired women smiled, sipping her wine. "Although I'm not too sure I should be presenting the current piece of literature to the public…"  
The other two chose to ignore her sudden fit of giggling.

"I couldn't do bakery myself.", Miss Fortune supplied. "Way too early mornings and I'd probably be double my size within a week."  
"It is very tempting.", Undine laughed. "And hours are tough. I had originally looked into working for the League and they were going to hire me as a security guard – you know they always need a girl or two there – but then I realized I wouldn't be able to watch Ekko's games if I had to work during. So bakery it is."  
"That is so cute of you!", Janna squealed, which made Miss Fortune check something underneath the table.

A red brow was being raised. "No more wine for you, Janna. You're such a lightweight.", the bounty hunter scolded. "You're even doing the floating thing again!"  
"Oh.", Janna hiccuped and flopped down onto her seat in a very unladylike way. "Sorry, you know I get a bit carried away sometimes."

Undine just smiled at them. All in all, most people here seemed to be rather lovely, more-or-less down to earth more-or-less human beings. Her gaze wandered over the group of champions, chest feeling a little tight what with the blessing of being allowed to live at such a wonderful place now. The party itself was unexpectedly relaxing, too. Everyone and then some had come up to Ekko and her to introduce themselves, exchanging chit-chat with them, inviting them to card games, to join them on their picnic blankets, to have a drink with them.  
And none of the people here seemed to be as stoic and intimidating as they had looked on the rift and posters. She had hardly been able to believe it when Gnar had snug up on her, jumped on and over her shoulder and squirmed around on her lap until he had gotten a good belly rub. Then there was Yi, entertaining everybody with old-people jokes, Lulu firing the occasional glitter fountain to up their party-level and Nasus was actually putting on the music and it was _nice_. Later on, Jinx was supposed to do another firework, too and Undine was honestly looking forward to that.  
Most of them had a good sense of humour as well, she chuckled, eyes resting on Azir doing his best rooster-impression to annoy Ekko. It was working, too.

Something tapped her on the shoulder and she jumped in surprise.  
"Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to scare you!", Miss Fortune back-pedalled quickly.  
"It's all good.", Undine waved it off. "I was just spacing out for a moment. I apologise. Where were we?"

Pointing at Janna, who was currently jumping up and down a good 20cm on her seat with the hiccups, the redhead said: "I'm gonna go and get that one home. She might not look it, but she's a terrible drunk."  
"She does kind of look the part by now.", Undine remarked drily. "Is it always this bad?"  
Miss Fortune gave a hearty sigh. "I remember the one time we let her go home by herself. Next morning I was woken up by an armada of birds pecking on my bedroom window, sent by her to make me come help."  
Undine was equally intrigued and worried. "What had happened? Did she hurt herself?"  
"You won't believe it."  
"Try me."  
"She got herself stuck in a tree, still drunk, and was too scared to climb down. She doesn't even need to climb, she could have just friggen floated."  
A sour expression over the lost sleep of that day on her face, she poked her friend a little harder than strictly necessary to get her to stand up. Undine had yet to stifle another laugh.

"Well, it was nice meeting you two. You'll make a cute addition to the island.", the bounty hunter said and leaned over to hug the younger girl goodbye.  
"Same here. Good night, Miss Fortune.", Undine replied.  
"Please, call me Sarah.", Sarah offered and winked at her, making to stand up herself.  
Undine turned around and gave Janna, who giggled in response, a quick hug as well. The two women waved to the rest of the champions and then they were on their way.

* * *

It was nearly three o'clock in the morning and still not everybody had gone home. Ekko was asleep, head placed in Undine's lap, who was sitting on a log and staring into the flickering flames of the camp fire. Even though her eyes were starting to droop, she figured if she was going to go to work in about two hours she might as well stay awake now. And somehow she couldn't really settle down to sleep anyway. Most people left had taken a seat around the fire or on chairs, wrapped in blankets. Their quiet conversations were flitting across the grass like small animals, stopping every now and then to gaze at the moon.

Undine's hands were thoughtfully playing with her boyfriend's hair, picking and twirling single strands between her fingers and placing them to splay out on her legs, lost deep in thought. Next to her, Braum was heating up some milk on the fire.  
"Vant goats' milk?", he asked with a friendly smile and offered her a cup.  
"Won't it make me sleepy?", she asked, caught a little off guard. She'd been sure there had been nobody else sitting right next to the fire with her. The bulky man was surprisingly quiet on his feet. "I have to stay awake for tonight and I thought hot milk is what you drink when you can't sleep."  
"Don't vorry.", Braum chuckled, his deep voice rumbling in his chest. "Is my own goats' milk, healthy goats, full of energy. Vill not make you sleepy."

A little hesitantly, Undine accepted the drink and took a sip. It was really hot, clearly tasted of goats milk and was, as promised, rather uplifting. There was also a hint of spices.  
"It's very nice, thank you.", she praised, while blowing on the drink to make it cool down a little.  
"My pleasure.", Braum replied. "You looked little sad so I made special drink to cheer you ahp."

"Sad?", she asked in surprise, making to deny it straight off the bat. "Well, I don't think I…", but then stopped, staring into the flames for a short while, though not really seeing them. "Maybe sad is not the word for it.", she ended instead.  
Braum gave a concerned nod, drinking from his own cup. "Vant to talk about it, Ahndine?"

Undine thought about this for a moment. There _were_ things on her mind, things she hadn't been able or given the chance to voice until now. Things that scared her like nothing else ever had, in a very different way than anything else. Cautiously, she checked if Ekko was still fast asleep then looked back at Braum. If she hadn't been able to put it onto words for Ekko, did she want to try for a person she'd just a few hours ago talked to for the first time?

"I… ", she began and already didn't know how to continue. Braum smiled encouragingly and waited for her to find the right words. His presence alone was reassuring, like a rock guarding her form the storm of thoughts in her mind. She tried again.  
"I did things… I did some most terrible things in this life. It wasn't wrong… or bad of me to do them at the time. But I still feel guilty for having done them." Her voice was rough.  
The huge man hummed a deep note in empathy. "Has been on Ahndine's mind for long?"  
Looking down onto the boy on her lap she whispered, barely audible over the crackling of the fire: "For too long."  
"Ah.", Braum nodded knowingly. "Some things take time.", he dragged out the last words as if to show just how much time it takes. But Undine shook her head vigorously.

"Time doesn't heal all wounds.", she insisted. "Be it the ones that were inflicted on me, or the ones I've inflicted on others. It's a burden I've been carrying for so long, it's become a part of who I am. But it's still a heavy thing to have on your shoulders, day to day to day."  
Braum took a moment to reply, then he said. "Ahndine, Braum do not kno vat happened to you, but Braum knos this: If there is tough thing to be done, you will do it. Do right. You smart girl, I see that."  
Undine sounded bitter as she replied. "You make it sound so easy. I… Before I didn't even have the time to worry about whether life was good or bad, I was lucky to be alive. Now, I'm happy, I have been blessed with friends, a home, love and a life worth living."  
Braum mustered her from underneath his bushy eyebrows, his blue eyes wide awake. There was a spark in them that you would not have really expected there. "You think you don't deserve that.", he stated.

It was barely visible, but Undine nodded. Smiling an old smile, one that had seen and heard many things, Braum gently put a hand on her shoulder.

"Little lamb.", he said. "My people sey, you get vat you deserve. Maybe vat you deed was bad, but that you feel bad for it is good. Just need time to find out vere to go from here."  
Undine looked down at the sleeping face of Ekko on her lap. He was peaceful and quiet, breathing steadily, oblivious to their conversation.  
"I don't know if I've ever really had a place to go in this life.", Undine sighed. "But I feel too young to be saying such things."  
"Ege can be like misunderstending."  
She raised an eyebrow and Braum offered his old smile again. Then he said: "People are not alveys as old on the outside as they are on the eiside. But they might be afraid to look themselves. You might be yoong, but kno yourself lot better than others."  
"Do _you_ know yourself well enough, would you say?" Undine was still staring into the flames, but the heat was starting to get too much so she had to avert her face. The circle of darkness around the camp fire seemed to be part of a different world altogether.

It was Braum's time to sigh. "Braum is not yoong men any more. But Braum is also strong, so people vant to make verrior. But that is not me. Real Braum is shepherd. Likes to care for others."  
Undine turned to look him straight in the eye. The odd yet nice, bulky man that had offered her hot milk a few minutes ago was gone, replaced by somebody who had watched and listened, offered a hand and sometimes all of himself to help others. Somebody who still bore their scars in their stead.

Their entire conversation felt unreal to her, oddly detached from reality. The cold night air on her back in contrast with the overwhelming heat of the fire on her face made it seem like being stuck between places, or times, or both. At this very moment, it was just her, Braum and the sleeping Ekko at the camp fire, the small illuminated circle merely a way point on the track through nothingness ,as the flickering dance of the flames encircled them and kept the darkness at bay.

She heard her voice as if someone else had asked the question: "Say, Braum. How will you know that you have found your purpose in life?"  
"That is hard kvestion.", Braum replied quietly after a pause, staring into the flames in front of them. He raised his bushy eyebrows, huffed before he went on. "Everytime I wonder about this, it gives me trouble. Then Braum thinks about laughing face of close friends and suddenly not vorry any more. So, I am here to make sure all people important to me are sefe and as happy as Braum coold make them. Also, the people vo are important to my friends. And their friends.", His huge frame cast a long shadow behind him, the fire painting his angular face in scary colours. His gaze however, was as soft as a lamb's himself.

Undine averted her eyes, looked back down at Ekko and traced his cheekbone, nose, eyebrows and lips softly with her finger, a little smile on her face.  
"You have a lot of things to do then, Braum."  
He gave another deep chuckle in return. "Does not make me unhappy." He paused for a moment and then turned his face with the serious eyes and the friendly smile towards the young girl. "Do you kno vat is yoor pahrpose, Ahndine?"

"I don't know if I even have a purpose."  
"Does Ahndine kno vat she vants then?"

She took a moment, gaze resting on the flickering flames again, the light dancing across her face in weird patterns. "I want to do everything I can do for Ekko."

"Don't you think that enough?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-uh-uh (/ ^o^ )/ is it getting interesting again?!


	24. Tomorrow's the last of my worries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @slr819: I'm starting to feel bad replying to your comments, as it ups the comment-counter artificially :( But I do read them and every word makes me happy :D (also, dont worry. I'm done writing for a while, just taking the time to spell check now, still missing something every time. not rushing anything here!^_^)

Retrospectively, Ekko was really glad people had forced their luck on them by making the couple attend the party. He had rather enjoyed himself, right up until he fell asleep at some point during the fireworks. Somehow the explosions and crackling sounds and the warmth of the fire had reminded him of the feeling of rain beating against his bed room window while he was wrapped up right and tight underneath his covers back home in his apartment in Zaun. The feeling of security and home had knocked him right out.

Getting to know all these people had been quite the kickstart to Undine's social life on the island as well. It was reassuring to see her settling in so fast. The girl was practically blossoming, shedding off the scared helpless Undine in favour for the lovely radiant person Ekko had had the privilege to catch glimpses of every now and then before.

Sadly, he didn't have much of a chance to be part of the transformation since he was busy most of the days.

Preparations for his début at the League took up so much time and energy that most nights he just got home tired and ready to fall into bed. By that time it was usually dark already and even going out for dinner would be pushing bedtime. And since Undine had to get up so early in the mornings, he rarely got to be around her (while awake) for much longer than a few hours a day.  
She herself would come home from work in the afternoon to have a nap and then continue about her day, meeting up with friends, helping Braum with his huge garden, going for tea with Miss Fortune, or funnily enough tinkering about with Jinx, before coming home to spend her short evenings with her boyfriend.

* * *

So, the days continued on and on and slowly but steadily the day of Ekko's first match on summoner's rift drew closer and though they were peaceful in a way he had never experienced before, he never came around to resting body nor mind, either.  
The harsh training sessions at the practice fields made his body ache with every step he took. The meetings with the PR-people, the stuffy air in the badly lit office rooms and the drills they put him through made his head ache.

Those days, the couple's relaxed evenings together seemed to have become his only respite and he treasured every second of each day he got to see Undine's laugh and smile, hear her voice, embrace her.

As soon as night time fell, however, and they were laying in bed, the girl fast asleep in his arms, Ekko would still be wide awake. Sleepless for what felt like most nights, as the gears in his head kept turning, greased all too well with worry.

It had happened again and again in the past weeks.

And Ekko could not think of why and how it was happening and worst of all what to do about it.

The distortions, the flickering, the moments where Undine looked like a fading old photograph, it happened more and more frequently. He had been watching his girlfriend even more closely every second he was around her and to his horror had noticed that she was mostly _always_ slightly diffused. Which, to be honest, was more than just scary.

Staring at the ceiling for hours, and when sleep finally came, tossing and turning in his sleep left Ekko exhausted every morning as he forced his sore muscles to get him out of bed. And most nights, he could barely catch a few hours of sleep over it.

* * *

One evening like every other, he came home dead tired, unlocking the door and kicking off his shoes onto the shoe rack, shouting "M'home!" to the apartment in general.

Undine stuck her head out from out the kitchen, throwing him a smile and a quick "Hey you!", before slamming the door closed again to stop the mysterious fumes welling up behind her from escaping the room.  
Ekko sighed to himself and went to follower her, a familiar scent in the air and a feeling of slight dread in his stomach. He made a straight line for the kitchen window and threw it open, letting out the air that suspiciously smelled like burned food.  
"What have you done this time, Undine?", he asked in exasperation, turning to lean against the window sill, raising an eyebrow at her. Honestly though, he was too drained for this.  
Sheepishly she lifted the lid off the pot sitting on the stove and quickly slammed it down again. "I was just trying to warm up what you'd prepared this morning.", she sulked, not daring to look him in the eye. "I was really careful, too. And still…"  
She looked really upset about having failed dinner yet again and somehow Ekko just couldn't be mad at her for long.  
"Come here.", he said, holding out a hand towards her together with a tired smile.  
Undine gladly took the offer and let herself be pulled into his arms, snuggling up against his chest.  
"Welcome home.", she purred and kissed him. "I'm sorry I burnt the food."  
"Don't worry about it.", Ekko laughed it off. "I'll make something else."  
" _NO_! I'm going to make dinner tonight and _you_ are taking a break for once." Undine protested, as she grabbed his arm, dragging him over to make him sit down at the kitchen table. Ekko didn't look so convinced of the idea, which didn't go unnoticed by the young woman.  
"Hey, don't you be looking so scared.", she huffed and set about to work. "I'll make my stir-fry, you know even I can't fail that one."  
Giving in, Ekko rested his head on his hand and watched her bustle about the kitchen. "True.", he agreed. "You are yet to mess up your stir-fry."

That earned him a piercing stare over her shoulder but he just laughed at her and settled down more comfortably.

Undine had been right, he had really been needing a few minutes of rest. Ekko let out a deep breath, now slightly sleepy and let his eyes follow the movement of her hands as she chopped up some vegetables. Soon, the girl started humming an odd little tune while dancing around the room to gather the other things she needed from the cupboards. Ekko let his head fall back to rest against the wall, a content smile on his lips. Life had gotten so unbelievably normal for them, he sometimes felt fate had gotten it all mixed up.  
Maybe he was just imagining things after all, maybe there was nothing wrong with Undine, or it simply wasn't as bad as he made it out to be.  
He sometimes got really confused with timelines himself and after a multitude of time jumps couldn't get rid of that blue glow for a while. Maybe what happened to Undine was just a side-effect of long term flicker exposure and nothing to worry about at all.

He yawned and stretched until his joints popped, feeling the sore muscles in his back relax as his eyes fell back onto Undine and all of a sudden, the gears in his head started turning again.

Something felt… off.

Ekko narrowed his eyes, trying to put a finger on what was disturbing him about the whole picture, but failing. He was just feeling too tired at that moment to think properly. His inability to figure out what was wrong was making him feel uneasy, not being in control of situations was not exactly his strength. So what _was_ wrong here? He was just sitting in his kitchen, watching his girlfriend prepare dinner, still dancing about the room to the song she was singing. Normal Undine, normal furniture, normal light, and yet something was not ok, he could feel it.

The seconds slowly passed, as Ekko fought for a hold onto the thought that kept slipping through his metaphorical fingers like an eel determined to get back into the water.

Then, it him him.

Eyes wide in horror he jumped up and grabbed the girl's arm, pulling her towards him, staring straight at her. There she was, Undine in all her glory. Burnt eyelashes finally grown back properly, hair falling lightly over her shoulders, her slightly crooked nose, lips parted in surprise, cool-grey eyes.  
"Huh?", she managed.

There also were the kitchen counter and stove behind her. Undine had gone see-through.

* * *

Ekko wouldn't say that he pushed her away, but just letting go of her after the sudden pull threw both of them off balance. Undine stumbled forwards before she caught herself and straightened up again.

"What?!", she asked bewildered when she noticed Ekko staring at her as if she were a ghost. "What's wrong, why'd you do that?" The horrified expression on his face, his sudden rash actions were scaring her, the fear she'd thought she'd shook creeping back up her spine. In sudden bout of panic, she quickly checked over her shoulder if something was behind her, or someone rather.  
"Ekko, what is wrong!?", Undine pressed out.  
He still couldn't get a word out himself and even if so, he would never have been able to put the feeling of bone-deep dread into coherent sentences.  
Undine looked more diffused than ever, the edges not crisp but seemingly washing out into the air around her. He extended his arm, hand closing around her wrist. It didn't feel different. Yet.

Without a word, Ekko pulled her into the bedroom, positioning her to look into the full-body mirror on the wardrobe.

Together they stood, staring in silence.

* * *

The expression on Undine's face shifted from disbelieve to horror, a hand raised to her mouth as if to make sure it was really still there. A few heartbeats were spent in absolute quiet and stillness, as if time had forgotten about them. Then, oddly stiff, she turned to look at Ekko, pleading eyes seeking reassurance.  
Unfortunately, he had none to offer.  
"It's been like that every now and then.", he confessed, throat dry. "It's what I meant every time when I asked if you'd flickered. It looks like a flickering-effect, don't you think? And you're not. Flickering, that is. Are you?"  
She shook her head. The poor girl was as pale as the walls, making her blend in even more with the background.  
"What the hell is happening here?", Ekko asked in desperation, stepping to stand behind her, holding her close as if he could anchor her to himself. Resting his forehead on her shoulder, arms around her waist, he clung to the fact that she felt as solid as she ever had.

Undine was still staring at herself in the mirror, unable to draw her eyes away. There had been a look on her face that Ekko couldn't quite place, a mix of terror and disbelieve and then something else. Frankly, his own emotional turmoil didn't leave a lot of space for contemplation.  
Quietly, and oddly detached, Undine stated: "It's getting better, Ekko. It's going away."

He let go again, stepping back a little for a better look. The bed behind her was still visible, but he could barely make out the outlines through Undine.  
The girl seemed to be getting more dense again, edges sharpening, opacity and colour coming back to her.

"Yes.", he stated in relief, a little calmer now himself. "Yes, you're right." And that was all he could come up with, his mind still drawing a blank.

* * *

After a few more moments had passed in silence, the mirror showed a pretty much entirely normal woman again, save the nearly chalk white face.

Suddenly feeling utterly drained, Undine slumped down to the floor and all the shock and scare and panic she had pushed away came rushing in and hit her like a bull. She started crying, the tears dripping down her chin, sobs loud filled with agony.  
Ekko sat down next to his girlfriend, pulling her onto his lap and holding her shaking form close, his hands tracing up and down her spine in an all too familiar pattern.

"God, I'm so scared.", she choked out between gasps for breath.

Ekko pressed his face to the crown of her head.  
Less than a month ago he had finally helped this girl to a life worth living, turning both of their lives upside down in the span of a few days. Now that the dust had finally settled, his worst fear that had been nagging at him in the back of his mind had become reality. There really _really_ was something wrong with her. He'd been trying not to see it, trying to will it away, begging for it to be a trick of the eye. But he could not keep doing that any more.  
If he couldn't find out what was wrong and fix it, she was probably going to fade away right before his eyes. And this time it didn't seem like a few clever plans and good improvisation skills on his part could get her out of it. If he could figure out why this was hap…

Then, Undine abruptly pulled him from his thoughts. Her voice was small, fearful.  
"I must have made a mistake with the thing. I probably did it all wrong after all."  
Ekko violently shook his head, irritation getting the upper hand over the scare. He'd looked at the designs, the implementation, no major flaws in plan nor execution as far as he'd been able to see, everything had been fine. He couldn't he have missed anything that important.  
But the thing was the only possible cause to this that he could think of himself. He bit his lip heard enough to taste blood.

"Sh-should we take it out?", Undine asked and without waiting took off her shirt with shaking hands, fingers clawing at the skin around the device, leaving it scratched and bleeding. Quickly, Ekko snatched her hands away, holding both of her wrists beside her face.  
"Don't be silly", he scolded, biting back his anger, but eyes blazing regardless. "It's gotta be some sort of bug. We'll figure it out in no time. Don't go doing rash things that might do more harm than help."

Almost not audible, she whispered something. Her grey eyes were wide and full of fear, teardrops still hanging onto her lashes, the skin still read and puffy from crying. "Am I going to die, Ekko?", she said. "Am I going to just fade away?"  
Without hesitation, Ekko replied: "No. I won't let that happen."

Still, the promise felt as heavy as a lie on his tongue.

They went to bed, neither of them hungry any more.  
Ekko spent another night laying wide awake, Undine sleeping the dreamless sleep of the utterly exhausted  
in his arms.  
It broke his heart to see her crying herself to sleep again.

* * *

_Even thinking back to those days now, Ekko could still feel the helplessness and weight of responsibility on his shoulders, hanging on with a cold grip on his neck. Involuntarily, he shivered despite the warm autumn sun on him and his workbench._

_In his fingers, he was turning the thing around, the light hitting off the scratched edges of metal. It was a lot lighter, sleeker now.  
This was what he'd worked on for the past eight and a half weeks. Now, there was one more thing left for him to do._

" _We should get going, Undine.", Ekko said more to the device than himself, studying himself in the reflection on the metal surface. As he looked into his own eyes, he quickly had to avert his gaze and consciously control his breathing to keep from crying again. Hands balled to fists on the table, he sat still for a moment, until the bang of pain in his chest had subsided._

_The young man sighed heavily, put the small device into the satchel on his hip and got up to get ready._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave some lv in the review section or press them buttons that tell me you enjoyed what I did here! :D


	25. Think fast!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We can do this, not that much left to go! That is, I can get this done and I hope you enjoy the last bit of tragic time we have left together.

"You seem tired, young Ekko.", Braum said, muscular arms resting on the fence of his garden. "Preperations can be tough, right? Hov's becoming new champion coming along?"

It was late afternoon and Ekko was on his way home from yet another hard and long day. On top of his already busy schedule, he now also took some time out every day to try and solve the mystery that was Undine's condition. In his sleepless nights he reread her design-notes, the sketches, checked additional literature. If he had a moment to spare during the day, he'd try to find any sort of clue as to what he could do to save her.

Ekko sighed and kicked at a pebble laying on the side walk. Today, he had taken a detour on his way home to talk to Heimerdinger, hoping the crazy little inventor had any clever ideas on the thing's malfunction. A knock on the front door had yielded no response and when he went around the back of the house and saw the scorched walls and broken windows around the also scorched Heimerdinger, Ekko had concluded that today was not the day to be asking the yordle any questions.

"I'm terribly tired, Braum.", he replied and rubbed his eyes as if to prove it. "I could really do with a break, you know."  
"Vill be over soon, no?", the big man supplied with a kind smile to which Ekko could only hold back a shudder.  
"One way or another, yes."

Braum did not fail to notice the sudden change in posture and tone. A bushy eyebrow was raised but Ekko was lost in thought already and staring right through his conversation partner.

The boy had no idea if time really was an issue with Undine but the recent development suggested an increase in symptoms as the days went by. Ekko sighed once more. If he couldn't come up with a good solution soon, he would have to ask Jayce or Victor and honestly, he'd rather not let it come to that. Not that he wouldn't do itif it could save Undine.

"Vy you saih so much? Not good for soul.", Braum scolded, effectively knocking Ekko back into the here and now. Then he added in a concerned whisper: "Is something vrong vith you and Ahndine?"  
Ekko jumped a little in surprise. "N-no. Totally not.", he stammered. But there was no fooling Braum.  
"Don't lie to me, friend. I see Ahndine often and she alvays has same look on face recently. Little tired, little… hiding." Braum waived his large hand, beckoning Ekko to step closer. "Did you fight?", he asked incredulously.

Ekko took a hand from his pockets, messing up his hair in the process of rubbing at his forehead to beat the oncoming headache.  
"We didn't fight, Braum.", he corrected. "We're just having a hard time settling… I have a hard time dealing with things. It's affecting us both."

A few heartbeats passed, neither willing to break the silence.  
A tree was creaking somewhere close by, the wind bending stem and branches until they protested. Somewhere further away Braum's goats bleated, fighting over something or other.

"I'm sorry to hear.", the broad man sad in a voice so small it couldn't possibly belong to a person his size. "Is there something Braum can do? You important to me, you kno, vould like to help."  
This time, Ekko even managed to muster up a smile. It felt good to know that other people cared and were willing to stand by their side. But he didn't really see how Braum could be of much assistance.  
"No, thank you.", he replied. "But really, thank you. There's nothing you can do and I'm sure it'll pass either way."  
In response, Braum gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, nearly knocking the young Zaunite over in the process. Hand resting there still, he offered Ekko a warm reassuring smile.  
"Hov about you go talk to Dshinx, eh? She always good at taking mind off things."  
Ekko reluctantly agreed. "I guess you could put it like that."  
He guessed he might as well ask her for input, now that Heimerdinger was unavailable for the time being.

* * *

Since Jinx was hell-bent on not actually having a place of permanent residency, Ekko had to go through the usual trial-and-error process until he found her, this time holed away in the cellar of the League's office building. Seemed she was running out of ideas, this was the third time she'd frequented the place already.  
Dropping down from the small window to the outside word, Ekko let his eyes wander over the absolute mess that was Jinx's preferred method of decorating.

"The state of this place…", he murmured to himself.

"If you've got something to say, say it to my face, time-boy!", came a high-pitched voice from behind something that could count as a couch. Soon, Jinx's grease-smeared face appeared above the back of it, chin resting on the piece of furniture. "If not, come help me with this." Her stick-thin arm waived him over, covered up to the elbow in dirt and oil.

Careful, so as not to disturb the piles of random clutter, Ekko stepped around the couch and to see what his blue-haired friend was up to now.

A somewhat large space had been cleared away and in the centre sat Jinx, leaning over what appeared to be a very hurt fishbones, halfway wrapped up in bandages.  
"Oh my, what happened?", Ekko asked, only somewhat holding back in the sarcasm.  
Jinx's head snapped up and she bit out a pitiful: "Fishbones dislocated his jaw! And I can't get it to spring back into place. Help me please?!"  
Disguising his laughter with yet another sigh, Ekko sat down to help play doctor.

Braum had been absolutely right when it came to Jinx's ability of distracting you from things, which apparently worked on herself just as well. There really wasn't much to do with fishbones, but she had started taking him apart only to forget about her main goal and then greasing up everything as you should every now and then. Now, her hands were too slick to hold the screwdriver any more and no, the idea of just washing them had not come to mind yet.

As Ekko worked away she kept on telling him stories about her recent adventures away in Piltover, how she'd made friends with a beautiful shotgun in the window of a shop but hadn't gotten around to adopting (stealing) her yet. Every boom and bang in her story telling was accompanied by lots of flailing of arms and shaking of heads. For the sad parts like leaving the newly-named Kabamm behind in the shop, Jinx practically shrank on the spot, making herself crumple up in misery.  
"It was soooo sad.", she whined. "You should have seen how she _stared_ at me, I'm telling you! It's like she was _made_ for me!" The arms began to move again, the girl sitting up straight and practically bouncing in excitement. "We're going to have soooo much fun together, just wait until I get her out of there."

Usually a conversation with Jinx meant that Jinx talked and you listened, so Ekko had been prepared to sit quietly for another while, when the sudden pause in the monologue startled him. He lifted his head from the nearly finished work and saw Jinx staring at him intently.

"Say, Ekko.", she said, shoulders hunched. "Is something wrong with Flat-Chest?"

"Ehrm…", he coughed. He felt like he was about to say something terribly wrong and possibly harmful but couldn't really stop himself. "What exactly do you mean? There is nothing inherently wrong with having…"  
To his relief she cut him off mid-sentence to further explain. "Your girl, you idiot. What is wrong with her?"  
He still couldn't drop the topic just yet, nor did he want to actually answer Jinx, so he went for a distraction. "Why are you calling her Flat-Chest, Jinx? I'm pretty sure I've had a closer look than you and I highly disagree with you on that one. Well, at least somewhat…"  
Jinx rolled her eyes and slapped her hand on her face, dragging it downwards in desperation over Ekko's stupidity, smearing some more oil down her nose in the process. "It's a joke dude, she calls me 'melons', don't get your brain in a knot over this. But that's _totally_ beside the point!" The girl leaned forward again, practically up in Ekko's face. "She seems out of it. What did you do to her?! 'Cause I _will_ beat you up, if I have to!"  
Ekko leaned back, trying to get a respectable amount of distance between them. "What do you mean 'out of it'?"  
"She like…", the hands were on the move again. "…she's just so accepting?! She always fought back over everything. It was _fun_ to argue with her. Now she just smiles and is happy and accepts shit, I don't get it!"  
Ekko didn't know how to respond. That was quiet different from what Braum had told him earlier. Jinx continued: "Did you beat her into submission or something, jackass!?"  
"Wha?", he stuttered, perplexed by the accusation. "OF COURSE NOT, you idiot! Maybe she's just happy with her life here! Why on earth would _I ever hurt her_?"

The girl's cheeks were puffed up with the sheer volume of her angry retort, but it didn't come. Instead she huffed, visibly deflating and curling up into a compact little ball of Jinx, that mumbled: "I'm just scared Flat-Chest might be getting hurt."  
Ekko snorted in derision. When had Jinx ever been afraid of people around her getting hurt?  
As if she'd heart the accusation, she retorted. "Durr. Even I c…" when Ekko suddenly cut her off, hand pressed to her mouth to stop her from speaking.

Something in his head had clicked.

Compact little ball.  
Scared.

Jinx's flailing arms.  
Happy.

Small, crumpled up.  
Misery.

Undine.

He knew what was going on.

Ekko jumped up without a word and dashed to the high up window he'd come in through earlier. He didn't care about the things he knocked over, distributing the chaos more evenly, didn't care about Jinx shouting after him as he hoisted himself up and sprinted home, to where his girlfriend must be waiting for him.

* * *

Ekko was in such a hurry, he actually knocked over the person he was looking for in the hallway of their small apartment block. Groceries spilt across the floor from the bags Undine had been carrying. She herself tripped over her feet but flickered to keep herself upright, snapping around in surprise. As she noticed Ekko, her tight stance loosened, muscles relaxing and a smile spreading on her face.

But Ekko had been looking at something different.  
Undine had been crisp and clear in outline as he had accidentally scared her. Now he was watching as she got more and more diffused again as her smile spread.

"Hey Ekko.", she chimed up, sitting down to gather up her shopping again. "How come you're in such a hurry? I won't die if you get home an hour later than usual, if you were worried."  
The boy knelled down as well to help clean up the mess he'd made.  
"Sorry, I thought I was going to be late for dinner.", Ekko quickly explained, eyes darting back and forth between the groceries and Undine. If he could just confirm his hypothesis, he – _they_ – might be able to do something about the whole situation! His heart was beating out of his chest with anticipation and a bit of anxiety.  
"You're never that excited for my dinners.", Undine remarked drily. "Did you do something naughty?"

Ekko hesitated for a moment, which apparently counted as a yes but worked out in his favour nonetheless. Undine stopped gathering up the shopping and sat up straight to look at him, a concerned look on her face.  
"Ekko, what is wrong? Did something happen today?!" The girl was clearly worried, her brows scrunched together, shoulders tense, a little pale around the nose. She was also not blurry around the edges any more.

He forced a smile and shook his head. "No, no.", the boy laughed and made some lame excuse up on the spot. "Something special happened actually and I wanted to celebrate by getting take away from that restaurant you love so much. So I had to be here before you started to get dinner ready, right?" Leaning over, he pulled Undine into a hug, wiping the concern off her face with an Eskimo kiss.  
"Oh, yes please!", Undine sighed, returning the affection. "I was so not looking forward to cooking tonight." Meanwhile, Ekko watched in suppressed horror as she started to flicker slightly again. His hypothesis appeared to be correct so far. But he really wouldn't say he felt happy about being right.  
"So, what's the occasion?", Undine asked as she got up to unlock the apartment door. Ekko picked up the bags, carried them inside and put them on the kitchen counter.

"Undine.", he began but she was in the living room searching for the phone to call the restaurant. Heart as heavy as his steps Ekko walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Man, he wished he could do it as reassuringly as Braum.  
"Undine.", he tried again, as she turned around, beaming at him.  
"Yes? So, what is it?"  
The serious look on his face made the warm expression on hers cool down visibly.

"I figured out what's wrong with you."

The phone dropped onto the floor with a thud, way too loud in the suddenly dead silent room.  
"You what…?", she whispered. "Ekko, what… how?"  
Taking her by the hand, he pulled her over to sit with him on the couch, taking her face in his hands, thumb tracing over her jawline.

Her silhouette was all crisp and edges again.

Ekko took a deep breath before he started. If he couldn't calm himself down, how could he comfort her?

"You made the thing to take apart yourself, right? Distribute everything you're made of and then put it back together. It takes up a lot of energy to distribute everything you are and infuse it enough to move the particles around. But it doesn't take half as much as it would without the thing. Think about the amount of explosives you'd need to take you apart that thoroughly, it's a lot more than the bit of fat you use up when you just move like – snap." He snapped his fingers to emphasize the point. Undine nodded without a word. She was abnormally quiet, her hands on her lap shaking slightly.  
"So, what the thing does, is like… pre-loosening.", Ekko summarized. "A pretty ingenious move, actually. It's constant, due to time restraints and trying to keep the energy consumption to a minimum. The actual distribution of particles is a conscious process though, so why would it just go haywire? That was the question at hand."

Seemingly without noticing, Undine put her hand on the thing on her chest. Her fingers tightened, knuckles turning white. "You really think you found out?"  
Ekko ground his teeth but nodded.

"I think because it is a process controlled directly by you, not through buttons, it might also be influenced by other parts of you than your consciousness."  
She had pulled her knees up to her chest beside him, smaller than ever, seemingly trying to vanish from the face of the earth. As if it wasn't happening fast enough as it was. Ekko swallowed hard and had to force himself to go on, wrapping an arm around her to pull the small frame to his side.  
"It's because you're happy. Absolutely right, there is another level to it: emotions. It was fear, the constant fear over years and years that kept you small and... concentrated. You never had to worry about losing focus, it's what you had trained yourself to do every hour of the day anyways. But now, … now that you're happy and… and safe… there is nothing keeping you from letting go for once. And it seems if you don't control the -" His voice hitched but he quickly caught himself again."- the thing at all times all the time, it does literally mean that you might dissolve with happiness right before my eyes."

An uncomfortable silence followed, punctured only by the screeching of the ever-present birds outside the window; outside where the air was fresh, the sunset colourful and warm and everything was so abnormally normal, Ekko couldn't really believe it any more.  
Then, when he couldn't bare it any longer, he shifted his arm around her and pulled the shaking girl onto his lap, holding her as close as he could. Undine's face was pressed against his chest, so her cries were muffled, punctured every now and then by something between a sob and a hiccup.  
"I promised from now on, you get to be the healthiest, happiest girl on this planet.", he chocked out. "But if you're too carefree and content, you might vanish. Simply because you're not making sure that you're not doing exactly that."

Defiantly he stared into the setting sun, willing himself not to cry. He had to be strong for Undine now, Ekko thought bitterly.  
For the past years the thing had been the only constant in her life, providing her with some sense of security. With it, she could always make a run for the hills if push came to shove. But now... having finally defeated the one person and the fear He had installed in her for over a decade, her lifeline was threatening to become the noose around her neck, tied all by herself.

What a cruel joke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I ever mention that you guys are the best? Well, you are ^^


	26. Every second matters

Minutes had quietly passed, Undine still in his arms, Ekko still staring out into the setting sun barely touching the horizon yet.  
He felt something in his chest clench and found he had troubles inhaling for a moment. Trying to stay calm, Ekko consciously took a deep breath, fighting to focus on what needed to be done right now.  
A crying Undine in his arms and a storm of thoughts and emotions in his own head left him little space for rational thinking but he knew he had to figure this one out and there wasn't that much time left for him to do so.  
But he didn't have to do the thinking right now, he realized.  
He had done most of it already.

Gently, he lifted Undine up and placed the girl on the couch beside him.  
Ekko got up with purpose in his step and went to gather his notebooks, strewn about the room as he had last used them, flipping through pages, reading up on old ideas and musings. He seemed almost frantic, desperate to find whatever he was looking for, the feeling that a possible solution was right there in his hands itching in the tips of his fingers.  
Behind him on the couch, Undine was wiping her eyes with the hem of her shirt. The bout of determination that had come over Ekko seemed to grip her as well. Not longer wanting to sit around crying, or even rather annoyed at herself for it, she went to the bathroom to splash some water or her face and wash away the tears.

When she got back, Ekko was standing over the couch table he had littered with his notes, brows furrowed. For a moment, Undine paused in the doorway, leaning against the frame and feeling like an intruder.

"We'll have to try to remove the thing.", the boy suddenly stated, lifting his head to look at her.  
Undine stayed quiet for a while, biting her lower lip, head tilted downwards, the long fringe obscuring her eyes. She seemed to be hesitant, unsure of herself.  
"Undine, I think we ought to try.", Ekko urged her. "Maybe I can disable it, I believe I found something. Now that we know what the problem is, I feel we should give this a chance. If so, we can try properly fixing it later."  
After another barely noticeable pause, she stood up straight and squared her shoulders, head held high, yet still silent.  
"You know there is no risk involved for you." The boy added, pointing towards his z-drive leaning against the wall.

After a deep, deliberate breath, Undine nodded. "What exactly do you want to do?"  
"I think… ", he started. "I think, if you take out at least some bits and pieces, we could slow the process down a little, buy us some time to come up with something permanent."  
"How so?", the girl inquired, walking over to look at the notes as Ekko was pointing out what he meant to take out, fingers wandering from old designs to his sketches, past notes and calculations.  
"If you remove the the parts that give the in- and output to the connections between the thing and your body, it would drastically lessen the efficiency of the energy conversion. It doesn't take it down completely, there are some extra back-up connections, if that's what you want to call them, that I don't think I could take out without a surgeon but they are – frankly speaking – shite. So…", he let the words hang in the air, looking at Undine expectantly.

Undine was absent-mindedly playing with her hair, eyes going over the calculations again.

"I could flicker.", she summarized. "I would be able to control it. But it would take so much energy to do so that my body could hardly supply enough."

"That's kinda safe, for now.", Ekko asked. "Right?"

* * *

It looked like the worst medical procedure to ever be conducted.  
Undine was laying on the bed, flat on her back, different sized screw drivers from their supplies at the ready to hand to Ekko. He had positioned the lamp from the bed-side table to shine onto her revealed chest, the thing blinking away in the light.  
Technically, he had done far more complicated things before, but despite the z-drive emitting its blue light from his back, he felt the stakes had never been higher.

"You ready?", Ekko asked and wondered if he was.  
Undine sounded calm and collected as she replied: "Go ahead."

With only slightly shaking fingers, Ekko unscrewed the case on top of the thing and carefully removed the lid. Earlier, they had sketched out a plan on what to do in what order. Since the thing itself was rather small, not all parts could be reached at all times, but not all parts could be safely removed either. First came… Ekko looked back onto the diagrams next to him, trying to decipher his own handwriting.  
There had been another problem with this, more on a communicational level: As expected of Undine and true to the naming of the device on her chest, the components of the thing didn't actually have names.  
Ekko squinted. First was the blinking bit and the bit with the coil and the bit with the silicon crystals and the connecting-something-to-something cable. Underneath that would be a fork-like-thing that he was not allowed to loosen more than absolutely necessary, since that was directly linked to the see-through blinky transmitter that was connected to the one on her skull he didn't even know had existed until now.  
Ekko took another deep breath. He wondered if ever in his life he'd taken so many deliberate gulps of air and if maybe he should take up yoga, should this become a habit.

The room grew darker and darker as the sun steadily made its way towards the horizon, the small cone of light cast by the lamp becoming brighter and brighter in comparison. Minutes past in quiet concentration, disturbed only by whispered questions and answers and the occasional screeching of screws that had gotten a little old.  
Checking back with his notes every now and then, Ekko found there was only something called "really fragile copper bit" underneath the "bit like a bug" that was left to be removed.  
He wiped his forehead and sat back for a moment, shaking his hands to get the cramps out that had started a while ago. With a sigh, he leaned forward again, picking up the smallest screwdriver he owned to carefully loosen the buggy bit (a little joke in his head that almost made him chuckle despite the situation), as Undine squeaked and slapped his hand away.

Only it went through his arm.

Ekko reacted as quickly as humanly possible, even before he had even been able to emotionally process what had happened, and slapped his hand back down, pushing the buggy bit back into place.  
Horrified, they starred at each other, still enveloped by blue light.

* * *

She could have died, Ekko realized. Of course he would have rewound time to try again, bring her back, but she could have died right there, beneath his hands, by his doing.  
All rewinds and undoing and retrying aside, he would have had killed Undine. The sudden tidal wave of an ocean-deep sadness knocked the air out of his lungs, rendering him unable to move for a heartbeat.

At the same time, Undine threw herself off the bed with a desperate jerk and half stumbled, half flickered into the living room, throwing open the door to the balcony and crashing into the handrail with the sheer force of movement. Hanging over the bannister, shaking like a leaf in autumn, she gasped for huge gulps of air. When Ekko had gotten past his stupor, he could hear her laboured breathing in between sobs and fits of laughter even from the bedroom.  
Gingerly, he stepped out behind her, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

Undine did not react.

Upper body still resting on the handrail, she had raised her hands to cover her face, tears dripping past her slender fingers into her unruly hair. Underneath his hand, her shoulder still trembled with the odd mix of crying and laughing.  
After a while outside in the last rays of sunlight, she quieted down a bit and Ekko thought he had heard her say something in between tears and giggles.  
"What was that?", he asked, not really prepared for any sort of conversation.  
She whipped around, pushing her fringe back with both hands, revealing her face with its desperate expression. Undine's eyes were red, still glistening with tears but also crinkled with laughter. Her nose was runny, lips covered in slight bite marks, swollen from the crying but stretched into a wide smile that couldn't decide whether it wanted to point up or down.

"I'm alive.", she rasped. "I'm alive, Ekko."

He didn't know how to react, so the boy just stood there. His hand dropped to his side.  
"I'm alive.", Undine repeated, moving about restlessly, raising and lowering her arms, wiping at her eyes, biting her finger. "Oh my god, Ekko. I could have... I... this..." She started laughing, doubling over as if from a punch to the stomach, unable to stop. Then the tears started to fall again.  
Ekko stepped forward, trying to help, to do anything really, but Undine took his hand to stop it on its way to her face almost absent-mindedly, while trying to stop the fits of sad laughter.

Despite not being prepared for that dejection, Ekko tried to understand and give her some time to deal with what had happened on her own. Feeling only a little unsure of himself and somewhat useless, Ekko retreated back inside.  
Instantly his eyes fell onto the pile of notes he had distributed across the table and floor earlier, face set in determination again.

"Alright.", he said to himself. "Maybe I can find something else. Starting from scratch it is."  
There _had_ to be something he could do.

* * *

Meanwhile outside, a somehow calmer Undine was standing with her back to the dying sunset, leaning against the bannister whilst watching Ekko struggling to solve the problem she herself had honestly given up on.  
The boy was walking around the room, picking up pieces of paper to study them, putting them back down and sometimes making a few notes in his latest pad.

Over the past few months, he had changed visibly, Undine noted, distracting herself from the more pressing matters at hand.  
He hadn't really grown, nor gotten much broader, but he looked more defined. As he picked up a book, Undine noticed the muscles in his arms and back that hadn't been visible before, not bulky, but lean. Ekko's jaw was set in concentration, looking a little more square, a little more grown up, like he had finally completed the transition from boy to man. He held himself differently as well. The lazy slouch was still there, but he stood with his legs further apart, more self-confidence in the way he leaned backwards slightly, arms crossed.  
"More wolfish then ever.", she smiled to herself.  
Then she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the window, illuminated by the last bit of light. A skinny, tallish girl with long hair, average face and bleary expression in round eyes.  
If Ekko was the wolf, she would be the doe at best, or maybe just a little songbird up in the tree.

Undine sighed and rubbed at her tired eyes.

What her boyfriend did not know was that she had been aware for a lot longer than him that something was off. And even to this day he did not know how much of a toll her condition was taking on her, as she had no intention on burdening him further with that information.  
Undine had known because never in her life had she felt this dead-tired.

She had been drained, restless, exhausted before in her life but had usually gotten away with four to five hours of sleep a day and everything had been fine. Now she slept at least seven hours each night and had to have a lie down in the afternoons as well. Luckily, Ekko never noticed that this wasn't due to her work schedule and even more luckily he didn't get to see the amounts of cake and coffee with lots and lots of sugar she had to have at work just to keep herself going. And she was losing weight still, not that there was a lot left to be lost by now.

With a sigh she dropped her head backward, leaning over the railing so she could see the world upside-down, just like her life had been recently anyway.  
And there was nothing she could do about it, not now, not soon. She just sort of wanted it to be over already.

"I've dug my own grave.", she sighed to the world in general, but couldn't find herself to be mad about it. Raising her head again, she could feel a dizzy-spell coming on, so Undine held on to the handrail to keep herself steady. She cursed herself for her weakness. As the darkness before her eyes faded, she saw Ekko literally throwing a book behind himself in exasperation and pick up the phone instead, nearly sending that flying into the next wall as well. But he caught himself and instead started dialling rather aggressively. Now, throwing books was not ok, though it was not the thing that bothered her most.

She felt anger well up in her chest.

* * *

As she walked back inside, closing the door to the balcony behind her, Ekko just put down the receiver.'  
"Food will be here in half an hour.", he informed and gave her a weak excuse for a smile.

Undine just stood there, eyes still puffy from crying, mouth set in a small line.  
Ekko still couldn't deal with seeing her upset, his comforting-skills had not improved enough for his own liking to deal with this sort of thing on a regular basis.

"Look.", the boy started, taking a step towards her, placing his hands on her arms. "I'm sorry I messed up. I should have expected this, it was too rushed and I should have thought about it more." Ekko averted his eyes, staring angrily at a spot on the carpet. "In retrospect, this was such an obvious mistake. I don't know what made me think that taking out the bit that balances out energetic fluctuations would have been a good idea. But I'm going to find something, anything, I promise, that can fix y-" but he was interrupted by a hand being pressed over his mouth fingers, rendering him unable to continue.

All of a sudden, Undine was not angry any more, but furious.

"Stop.", she hissed and as he tried to remove her hand again: " _STOP_. _IT_!"

She held on tightly, waiting for him to cease his struggling and then continued. "Listen Ekko, you have to stop. Stop investing all your time into solving this problem that might not be able to _be_ solved when it comes to it."  
As Undine saw the protest light up his Ekko's eyes, she gripped even tighter, leaving marks in his cheeks.  
"NO!", she almost screamed, close to tears again. "You have so many things to do in your life, things to invent, matches to win, you wanted to make Zaun a better place; you can't just waste all of your time on me! Don't make promises on this, don't make promises you might not be able to keep!"

Ekko went very still at that. Perplexed, Undine subconsciously loosened her grip, wondering if she'd gone to far, but he just gently took her hand and pressed it to his lips.  
"But you _are_ my life, you silly girl. What else would I do.", Ekko stated with a finality that made Undine swallow hard.

It took her a moment to get the fury back she needed to continue.

"I can't be, Ekko and I shouldn't be. I can be _part_ of your life and can spend my life with you and _fucking hell_ , there's nothing I want more than that." She took a deep breath. "But I cannot be your goal and I cannot _be_ your life."  
To say that Ekko's face fell would have been the understatement of the century and Undine could not help to feel a twinge of pain and guilt. This time it was her who pulled him in closer, making his head rest on her shoulder, unable to face his accusing expression, his sadness.

"You promised me things back in Piltover, remember?", she whispered and he nodded ever so slightly, letting himself be held for once. "And _I_ promise you that I _am_ the happiest girl on earth, that you _have_ kept those promises. Don't mess up your score now. Being here with you, being safe, having this life and most importantly, seeing you becoming the person you should be. Seeing you getting closer to fulfilling your dream. Please, Ekko, don't give yourself up for me. I..."  
And there her voice hitched a little. "I think I can handle this. We now know what the problem is and I think I can learn to live with it. I've done it before. I'm sure I can learn to suppress it at all times."  
Her arms around him tightened, fingers digging into his sides.  
Face buried in his neck, she whispered: "It's like balling your hand into a fist, even while asleep. It can be learned. Please, Ekko. This – these past months – this is the happiest I have ever gotten to be. Don't ruin it by desperately trying to fix my mistakes for me. I'd rather spend my time with you. And I don't want you to lose sight of who you are over someone like me."

A pause.

"You know I can't do that, Undine.", Ekko said, sounding as tired as she felt. "You know I can't. It's like letting you die right before my eyes."  
"I'm not dying, Ekko. And if I was, I'd rather die seeing you kicking ass than worrying your head off over a girl that loves you more than herself."  
And she cut in again, as he started to say something.  
"Can we at least leave it be until after your first match?", she begged. "I want you to get that right, you _have_ to focus on that for now! For me?"

Another pause.

Then Ekko's arms encircled her waist, one hand between her shoulder blades, bodies lining up like two pieces of a puzzle.  
"Ok.", he replied, reluctantly, bitterly. Yet, somewhat thankfully. "If you promise that you will be ok until then."  
Undine smiled as she promised, Ekko could feel her lips move against his neck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only so few chapters left but soooo many feels wanting to be felt D: I do provide tissues and blankets, if you feel the need to talk.  
> This is the final sprint, guys! Give it your best, review, flame (pls don't), love and pour your heart out, I certainly will. Will you? ;)


	27. It's not how much time you have

_Arriving back home in Zaun after almost half a year of absence, his mother hadn't asked questions, just held him when he really needed it, humming a little song. His father had been quiet as always, but there was something just as reassuring about the way he pulled Ekko's head onto his shoulder, roughing up his hair, sitting in silence._

_Both parents had watched the broadcast, proud as could be, now sad as could be._  
Both had seen his eyes.  
There was no need to talk.

* * *

_When he had finally gathered up the courage, Ekko went out to his memorial wall once again, lighting all the candles. Ajuna's face was flashing him a sad smile and his gaze drifted to the goggles placed on a pedestal. There were so many memories, so many people he would never see again. Except for Jinx, whose portrait he had drawn all those years ago, symbolizing that she was officially dead to him. He huffed. Teenagers... at least his painting skills had improved. To think that they had turned out as friends in the end…  
And now he had to add another one. It would be the last, he swore. Not to himself, that didn't seem to work lately. He swore to her, Undine. Swore that he would do better next time, that he would make her proud._

_He stood for a while. Imagining her face, thinking that he would have to remember the details in order to paint her… it needed time. And so time he took, and waited for the pain in his chest to subside._

_Ekko wasn't even surprised to soon find some arms-, jaw- and possibly brain-amputated hextech-assassin breathing down his neck. He didn't have to think hard about who might have paid this guy, now that his face had been on all the screens of Runeterra. Ekko didn't think that even the henchmen he had failed to kill all those months back in that already blood-splatters warehouse would be stupid enough not to catch on._  
All the better for him. He could do with the distraction.  
As he pulled the handle on his z-drive, the thing in the satchel attached to his belt hit against his leg.

* * *

_The first two rewinds were mainly to gauge the situation properly. His training in the League had taught him that what he didn't have in physical strength he could make up for with sustain and tricks, rewinding every time it got too dangerous.  
Now this opponent really was not hard to figure out, there was no back and forth, no trading needed to guess his limits and possibilities. Straight away, Ekko noticed the flaws in the hextech augmentations, the loose gaskets on the steam-powered arms, the vulnerable tubes of the cooling systems._

_**Rewind #3** _

_Ekko coughed a little, and the cracked rib ached as he did. Though that was not half as bad as his broken left arm. Now, that had been silly and careless of him. He could do a lot better than that, he thought to himself and the smirk he hadn't sported in a while nearly got back onto his face. He hadn't felt this alive in weeks._

_As the assassin charged at him again, he saw the movements in slow motion before his eyes. Damn that guys was easy to predict._

_His body tensed, ready to react at the prefect timing. An iron fist rushed at his face but Ekko twisted sideways, severing the tubes of the cooling circuit, using the movement to somersault over the thug, cutting another tube in the process and putting a respectable amount of distance between them, giving the boy time to recover. His broken arm was hindering him more than he'd though, but he took a deep breath and this time could not stop the smirk. Sadly, Ekko was a little too much out of breath for the traditional "Come at me, bro.", but that might just have been a little over the top._

_With a final lunge on both sides, Ekko cut off the seals on the steam-arm's engine and the sudden increase of oxygen in the chamber caused an upsurge of flames and an explosion big enough to knock the assassin backwards and into the wall, smashing his head in._

_As Ekko recovered and slowly fought his way back onto his feet, panting heavily at the effort, he raised his eyes just in time to the see his memorial wall crumble down over the dead body, the mural falling apart piece by piece, the familiar faces breaking up and turning to a heap of rubbish and dirt._  
Ekko's eyes widened in horror, his jaw dropped in disbelieve at his own stupidity of not having prevented this. He really seemed to have gotten a little rusty, holed up in his apartment.  
The young man inhaled deeply and let out a sigh, scrunching up his face in a fight for composure. When he opened his eyes again, there was nothing but grim determination set in them.  
He turned the dial on his glove and this time his right hand went to the satchel and flipped a switch on the thing inside.  
This was going to be good test-run for the the finally perfected phase dive. 

_**Rewind #4** _

_Ekko squared his shoulders, his damaged body aching as he did so. Deep in his chest, his heart was beating with excitement, a rush of adrenaline in his veins. The small device hit his leg again while he widened his stance and an oddly familiar feeling took hold of him. It felt as if he could smell something that wasn't really there, feel a warmth that wasn't his and as the assassin charged at him again Ekko lunged first, rolled over his shoulder and blinked_ _. There was the sudden yanking at the base of his neck, the feeling of overall hot pressure. Then he reappeared_ _behind the guy. His sword swung and severed a tube. He rolled again, blinked and hit again, rolled, blinked and stood a few meters away, making sure to get his attacker to angle himself just right._

_Ekko's skin tingled._

_Confusion clear on the assassin's face, the thug went with the only solution to problems he'd probably ever come up with: Trying to knock its teeth out. With a roar, his arm powered up, practically flying towards Ekko, who smoothly dodged and once again removed the seals on the steam-engine, flickering just in time to do the same thing to the other arm.  
Then the young man stood, facing his mural, facing his friends, as behind him the augmented arm exploded again, shooting the assassin backwards into a lamp-post. A squelching, wet cracking sound and a squeak told Ekko that both the lamp and the thug's head had considerable dents where they had connected._

_An unusual calm came over him, a soothing mix of achievement and exhaustion._  
Ekko closed his eyes, envisioning the face he wanted to paint next to Ajuna's.  
It stung just a little this time.

_There still was a warmth in his chest that he had not expected to feel for another while, the ghost of the feeling of a hand on his cheek, on his shoulder, reassuring and familiar.  
The smirk spread across his face again. He really was a silly little Ekko sometimes, wasn't he?_

_As if Undine would ever_ truly _leave him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is short, so even a shorter bit of feedback will be much appreciated ;)  
> This is the second last chapter by the way, so the last one will be up soon!!


	28. It's how you use it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here goes nothing. Again.  
> Also, thinking about writing a little sequel? maybe... :P

The door clicked shut behind him and Ekko threw the keys onto the small table next to it, too worn out to even call his usual "I'm home!". Tomorrow was finally going to be the day he got to walk onto Summoner's Rift and show the world what Zaun could be. Though, who would have guessed that such a simple act as walking onto a stage and beating up a few people would have taken weeks and weeks of preparation... Well, at least it was going to be over soon, just like Braum had said. And then he could finally get back to fixing his girlfriend...  
He sighed and rubbed his eyes.  
Their small apartment was dark, moonlight falling in through the large windows. Only a small ray of warm light came from the bathroom, door left ajar, the sound of the shower running.  
"I swear, one more day in these stuffy offices would have killed me.", Ekko groaned, kicking off his shoes, skilfully managing to make them land behind the shoe rack and complaining some more as he tried to unearth them again.

When he straightened up, Undine had entered the living room, standing with her back to the circle of the moon, her silhouette outlined in cold silver, oblivious to Ekko's presence.  
Absent-mindedly she was kneading her dripping wet hair with a towel held above her head, the occasional droplet of water falling onto the carpet with the tiniest sound. Other than the cotton touching onto her shoulders, there wasn't a single piece of fabric on her skin.

Ekko's eyes followed one of the droplets on its way down, from the tip of a strand of hair onto her collarbone, spilling over and moving on, running in the shape of a half-moon down the side of her breast. The droplet continued on, glistening in the silver light. It ran down Undine's side, past her waist, finally stopping on her hip bone, waiting for others to join so it could travel on.  
Ekko tore his eyes away, tracing back up to Undine's face. She had finally noticed him, hands leaving the towel to rest around her neck, hair flowing past her shoulders. The way she stood, head turned towards him, body slightly angled away, features illuminated by the moon, it made her look older yet ageless, ethereal.

He half-expected her to say something, mock him for his outright staring, but she remained silent and so did he.

Together with the spark of the moon there was something else in her eyes, thoughtful yet determined. Ekko stayed glued to the spot, silently waiting for her to break the spell.

Moments passed.

Undine took a step towards him, letting the towel slide off her shoulders, her gaze never straying from his face. Ekko's breath caught in his throat. With slow, measured steps she closed the distance between them until they stood mere inches apart, noses nearly touching. Her breath ghosted over his face and Ekko found himself back against the wall he'd been up against on their first day here.  
Undine's eyes were pulling him in, more vivid than ever, the light grey now a stormy hue.  
Slowly, deliberately, she took one last small step, pressing her hips to his, then her stomach, chest. Lifting her arms, tips of her fingers caressing his neck like a feather's touch, she brought their lips together. Softly, at first, then hungrily, then demanding.  
Her hands wandered to the hem of his shirt, pulling it up over his abdomen, tracing over his ribs, shoulders, taking it off. Even before Ekko heard the piece of clothing hit the ground, he felt her teeth on his neck and hammering pulse, travelling further down, a warm puff of breath on his navel, the treacherous clink of his belt buckle and then his head fell back against the wall.

* * *

He couldn't find words to express just how grateful he was for having her by his side. Everything they'd been through together, everything she had made possible for him, everything she had given him, everything she was. As they moved together all he could think of was her name and just how much he really, honestly loved this girl.

Undine's hair was spread out across the bed sheets, forming intricate patterns in the darkness of the room. With her arched back, skin glowing with a thin sheen of sweat, the flush on her cheeks... everything about her seemed unreal, too beautiful to be true to Ekko's eyes.  
She linked her fingers behind his neck, pulling him down towards her.  
Undine looked at him through half-lidded eyes, breath punctuated with small moans, the corners of her mouth twitching up into an oddly innocent smile. Pressing brow to brow, nose to nose, mouth to mouth, she whispered something, the first thing she had said to him all night, kissing the words onto his lips.

"I love you, Ekko. I always will."

* * *

The midday sun found Ekko struggling to wake up as it started to creep to the highest point of it's journey, the sea outside the bedroom window reflecting the light and drenching the world in excessive brightness.  
It was terribly warm underneath the covers, but he didn't feel like shaking them off any time soon.  
Undine's back was pressed flush against his chest, his left arm looping around her waist, hand resting atop her sternum so he could feel the beating of her heart both in his fingers and next to his own. The closeness, skin on skin, the cocoon of blankets enveloping them, created a warmth to protect them from the slightly chilly breeze from the sea that came in from the open window.

No, he really did not want to wake up yet, so Ekko pushed the idea that he wasn't properly sleeping any more anyway as far away as he could, holding on to the dreamlike state for a little longer. His face was pressed against the sleeping girl's neck and he breathed her scent in as deeply as he could. The now familiar smell of the new soap she had taken to using once they had arrived on the League's island, the way her hair smelled the day after a being washed, a faint trace of sweat from being wrapped up under the covers all night, the typical scent of her skin.

Undine.

Her skin was soft beneath his fingers, her hair spread out across the pillows, the part above her neck just recently shaved short again. Even though she was facing away from him, he could hear her breath falling from her parted lips.  
The simplicity and purity of the scene was mesmerizing and Ekko tightened his grip without realizing, not wanting to let go of any of it. Moments ticked by, slowly, yet determinedly so. He refused to acknowledge them. Right now, there was only him, the sun and Undine, fast asleep in his arms. Gently, he lifted his head a bit, eyes still closed, to kiss the soft skin under her jaw.  
He knew he had to get up soon, get ready and then set foot onto Summoner's Rift for the first time in his life.  
But then, the match didn't start until early evening, so there was no reason to hurry just yet.

* * *

When Ekko walked out onto the Fields of Justice, he had to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness. Then the cheering from the ranks high above reached his ears and made him stop dead in his tracks. He was really here, in the League, as a champion and people were cheering for him! He had to stop himself from jumping up and down in excitement, but couldn't stop the stupid grin from spreading over his face.

He was going to win this one, his first game ever. For Undine.

His eyes searched the front row behind his teams summoner's platform. She should be up there somewhere, in the V.I.P section for guests. He had to shield his eyes from the stadium lights but soon found her at the very front, cramped into her seat between Braum's broad shoulders and Jinx who had propped up the all-healed fishbones next to her on the chair. Ekko raised his hand to wave at his girlfriend, catching her smile back at him, hand raised, finger's crossed.

"You'll do great, I'm certain.", she had said, back that time in Zaun.  
Now, he believed it.  
He touched his lips, where her kiss from this morning, last night still lingered. At a call from his team mates, he turned around to jog after them, flashing one last smile over his shoulder. The match was about to begin and he was determined to show everyone what he was made of.

* * *

"So, Ekko, this was your first match EVER and you were legendary! What an accomplishment!", the reporter shouted, faking an ungodly amount of excitement. "How does that feel? And what was with your sudden spell of headache afterwards?"  
Ekko was still breathing hard and wiped the sweat from his forehead before he replied.  
"Normal, I guess? Pretty tired. And I don't know what happened. Must have gotten something into my eyes, they just stung for a little. At least it happened _after_ the kill.", he said with a grin. Interviews, too?! What a life.

They were up on the ranks, overseeing the now empty rift, his face up on the big screens.  
"You worked really well with your team, most people wouldn't have taken you for such a great jungler. Any tips and tricks?" The interviewer shoved the microphone into his face, looking at him like he was about to reveal the secrets to earth, universe and life itself.  
"I guess concentration and a good motivation will always get you far.", he shrugged. Was there a standard protocol reply they were expecting of him?  
"Oh, so is there a special someone that keeps you going? Tell us all about them!"  
Obviously he had said the right thing. Or at least the thing they wanted to hear.  
"Eh, yeah.", he said awkwardly and gave an embarrassed smile.  
"Are they here now?"  
"Sure, she should just be over there.", he nodded to the sidelines where the special guest spectators were standing in groups, discussing the game.

Ekko hadn't had time to look for Undine since the start of the match, but he quickly spotted Braum's huge frame. He waved and when the muscular man noticed him, he patted somebody Ekko couldn't see on the shoulder and walked towards him with a lopsided smile. The crowd parted for his long stride and behind him, Jinx stepped out from the group, surprise clear on her face as she looked at Ekko. A few steps and they stopped in front of him, their faces a funny mix of different emotions the boy couldn't quite place. He looked back at them a little confused.

"Where's Undine, I thought she was with you?!", he asked, totally ignoring the reporter behind him. The cameras were now focussing on Jinx's face as she held something up to him.  
"She told us to get you a mirror. You should have a look.", she said, her voice sounding a little hoarse. "So, we borrowed one from Zyra." (1)  
"Huh, why?", Ekko asked, turning the small accessory around in his hands.  
"She...", Braum started but then his voice broke and he had to try again. "She sed she had gift for you. Look!"

Ekko raised the mirror and looked into it. Sure thing, there was his face, his white mohawk, the hour glass painted on in white. Nothing out of the ordinary, maybe a little sweaty still. Why would she want him to look at himself, what kind of game where they playing? Why wasn't she here to congratulate him?

Then, something odd caught his attention.

The hand with the mirror fell to his side and he had to squeeze his eyes shut, biting his lip to keep his calm, in front of the camera at least. Braum gently pushed the interviewer away as they tried to get back into the conversation. It looked like he was swatting a fly away.  
As collected as he could, Ekko asked: "What happened?"  
"She looked like from bad old film.", Braum said and sighed.  
"Yeah, all flickery and not sharp around the edges and a little out of focus.", Jinx added. "She was watching you _all_ the time though. When you got that 'legendary' she _jumped_ up and cheered with everybody else. When we sat down again, she was _gone_. Like _POOF_. No sound though."  
Ekko's shoulders were trembling, hands balled to fists so hard, the mirror cracked.  
"It suits you. Quite handsome.", Jinx said with as much tact as she could muster.  
Ekko looked up at her, face contorted in grief, sadness, anger and something else. Tears were falling, down his cheeks and past his one dimple. His shoulders trembled, as did his hands and he couldn't do anything to stop it. Hell, he really didn't care right now.  
The cameras were on his face, projecting it onto the screens all over Runeterra, showing the world the loss in his newly greyish hazel eyes.

Undine had relocated and thereby given him some of the pigment of her irises as she had dissolved into thin air.

She was gone. Not for good, but forever.

In the background people started whispering his name, asking what had happened, worrying, laughing at him for crying like a baby.  
Ekko left the little circle without a word, each and every movement oddly stiff.

* * *

**.**

* * *

**...**

* * *

**.....**

* * *

**...**

* * *

**.**

* * *

" **So in the end, you chose to go with lamb.** ", Wolf said. " **You would have made for a fine hunt.** "

" _Or a fine hunter._ ", Lamb added.

"But I was neither.", Undine replied. "And now, I shall be nothing."

* * *

" _Soon, we will have to come for the one you love._ ", Lamb said. " _He has evaded us for far too long._ "

" **He has been marked by us.** ", Wolf added. " **I will have my chase.** "

"The day he goes, he will go with you, Lamb.", Undine replied. "There will come a day when all he has wished to do he has done. And that day he will chose with his own free will. Just like I have."

* * *

" **But he has run in fear from us for so long.** ", Wolf said.

" _How can he embrace me when all his life has been spent tricking us?_ ", Lamb added. " _I do not understand._ "

"Such, Kindred, is human nature.", Undine replied and smiled one last time.

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(1) Zyra janai, Katzyra da.

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_**A/N** **:** So, let's talk about **Ekko's eyes** here for a second._

_I know some of you might find this weird, or pointless or just a stupid thing of me to do. BUT do hear me out._

_As you probably noticed, I have tried to (and succeeded? You be the judge) in including all the lore-based information we have on Ekko. I checked the Q &A and wikia and 99% of things in this story regarding Ekko, minus the existence of a girl called Undine in his life (although it technically doesn't say that she didn't), should be correct. I also included both of the bits on Ekko Rito has provided us with. You will find that the comic "Chronobreak" took place between chapters one and two and Ajuna, who dies in the comic, actually starred in the first chapter as well. The "Seconds" video they released (and I watched about a hundred times while writing xD) was basically the second last chapter of this story, where I picked it up and wrote the extra scene that is only implied in the video itself._

_Now, the eyes._

_If you look at both works, the comic and the video, and_ really _closely look at Ekko's eyes, you will notice that the colouring differs. Now, this is nothing big, but it's noticeable. They're a really warm brown in the comic and kinda coldish, maybe even green in the video. Since Ajuna's face is on the mural in the video, the comic must have taken place first. So, if there was to be an artificial change in eye colour in Ekko, it must have been from dark brown to that greyish hue.  
I wouldn't say that I worked the entire story around that, but at some point things fell into place and that's that._

_I guess I just wanted to make sure nobody thinks I made up stupid things here, especially in the last chapter after everything was so "smooth" and "realistic". (wow, way to go on the self-praise, birb)  
Thanks for reading the rant if you did._

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_And most of all, **thank you for reading Tragedy & Time**.  
This journey we got to have together was most beautiful and please know that I am always up to talking to you and maybe even play one or two games o'LoL ;)_

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_If you read this months or years later, be aware that I still feel that way, and if you leave a comment out of the blue it might just be the nicest of surprises._

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Chirp, birb.

Here's to you.


	29. Do not quit until it's right.

Ekko's fingers slowly trailed across the spines, bump after bump. He could almost hear the sighs, the whispers, begging to be held, opened and read. The knowledge of centuries, of different cultures and believes, the hurt and joy of a thousand lives, all focused, boiled down and printed on seemingly insignificant paper. The books lines shelves after shelves, row after row, room after room. The library on the League's island was really well stocked, Ekko thought, just like every time he came by. Although the population with access to these books wasn't the biggest and only half of them where interested in books to begin with (and a good percentage of the other half probably didn't know how to read without using their finger) the selection of printed volumes was huge. The interested half probably had enough interest to make up for a small country after all.

Walking into the library a familiar, yet still unsettling sight had greeted Ekko. Vel'Koz was the most efficient and invested librarian Ekko had ever heard of existing on a non-flat world, even though he technically wasn't even from here. That being said he just couldn't get used to the idea that any living being could be reading 4 different books at a time, two held and two propped up on the desk and still manage to watch you with that librarian expression on it's non-existing face that said: "I don't trust you to touch my books with those dirty fingers of yours and don't you dare make a single sound. I can hear you breathe from across the room and it's making my tentacles itch."  
Ekko had nodded hello quietly and then quickly hurried off toward the back end of the building to escape the watchful spare eyes of his fellow champion.  
He had come here looking for a certain book that Zilean had recommended he should read in response to question that had been bugging the young man for a while.  
The z-drive had been working just fine ever since Ekko had built it, which actually was the problem at hand, Ekko had no idea why. He'd had a smart idea on how he could build the device with a rough idea of what it should do and maybe even a spark of ingenuity of how it could twist time but he'd never in his life thought it would actually work. But it did and the young champion would never have dared to complain about that fact. After all though, he was a scientist at heart and the need to know _why_ had been burning in him for a long time, only suppressed by the ironical sheer lack of time on his part.  
His life in the League had somehow given him a little breathing room on that part, though for the longest time recently he'd been feeling like he was suffocating with the depression, the sadness. He had barely been able to drag himself out of bed but had found his way back in, as he always did, by building something, making something good. And after the longest time he had rediscovered his curiosity and it had felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off his chest.  
And so, one morning found the young man with the bleached white hair in his gruff Zaun attire trying to do walk of inconspicuousness of the truly innocent past the scrutinizing eyes of the librarian.

In the dark corners of some room at the end of a flight of stairs and corridors, Ekko found the section labelled with " _T_ " and raised his hand to trace along the titles on the back of the books, looking for the one labelled, as Zilean had informed him, _Trajectories of Time_.  
" 'The Truth about Shurima's Long Lost Treasures', 'Trunks and how to build them', 'Trubbalahi'.", he whispered the words written in golden ink, black ink, curly lettering. " 'Tropical Birds and their Nesting behaviour', 'Trophycrafting'…" He skipped a few shelves and continued on, changing hands and going the other way along the line of books.  
" 'Tracking your enemies: Proper Mapping in Combat', 'Trad van Carh – official biography', 'Trading along the Cotton Road', 'Traditional Ionian Clothing and its social Significance', 'Training your dragon', 'Training your Poro', 'Training your Voidling', almost there, 'Training your Wyvern', 'Tragedies in Theatre throughout the ages', 'Tragedy and - ", and he stopped. His gloved right hand hovered over the title.  
" ' _Tragedy and Time_ '.", Ekko repeated to himself. The words felt… not familiar but in an odd sense right. They easily rolled off his tongue as if they'd been sitting there waiting to jump out of his mouth. Without thinking about it, he reached out and pulled the book out from between its neighbours, totally ignoring the huge tome titled 'Trajectories of Time' standing right next to it.

The book felt weighty in Ekko's hands, even though it wasn't even that large.  
The letters on the title were clean and without much decoration, the cover a hand-drawn simplified picture of… him?

He flipped it open. It made a cracking sound as the glue in the spine was bent into an unfamiliar position. The crisp white pages were looking back up at him, not many people seemed to have picked this book up before. There was no date of publication.

The first page read:

"From the girl of the bright see, spirit of the waters.  
From the girl who shattered his life, to the boy who had his heart shattered."

The world seemed to tilt sideways and Ekko's knees gave away.

He sunk to the ground, onto the cold hard marble tiles. Although he felt every muscle in his body refuse to work, felt his heart protest, his lungs unable to suck in the air like they had done for years, his hand refused to let go of the book. His fingers were holding onto it so tightly, he could feel the pain from the cramps creeping up his arms.

Ekko sat for a while, waiting for his head to stop spinning, the ringing in his ears to subside. And then another small eternity before he could move his body again. And then another longer eternity before his heart felt like his own again.  
In a sudden bout of desperation he ripped off his gloves and threw them over his shoulder carelessly, tracing his bare fingers over the pages, the words, the time and love poured from a small heart onto the pale paper. The warmth of the fingers that had a long time ago written these lines travelled from the page, up his hands into his veins. Tragedy and Time, she had called their story, how fitting.

A small smile crept onto Ekko's lips. What a treasure he had found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter you get, but it is the chapter you deserve?
> 
> Because I come to tell you this: I will be getting Tragedy and Time printed as a book! *。ヾ(｡oｖo｡)ﾉﾞ*。  
> I have wanted to do this for myself ever since the start, draw the cover picture myself (link to art blog in profile :P ) but then I talked to some of you and apparently I might not be the only one that wants a copy… Can you even imagine my feels right now?! (ﾉ≧∀≦)ﾉ
> 
> So, I've looked into printing and its actually possible!  
> As much as I would love to gift you two books each, I really would, I cannot afford that :( Depending on how many copies I get printed, my expenses will differ and then there's international shipping since you beautiful peeps live all over the place, but I don't think we'll be looking at more than15-20$ tops each and of course it'd only ask for you to cover the expenses!
> 
> If you are interested in getting a copy, could you maybe email me at mockingbirbs at gmail dot com? I will be giving you as much information as I can as soon as I have it, but I'm hoping to maybe get it shipped in time for Christmas :3
> 
> ..geez, I'm so exited! :D see you around, you're the best as always!  
> Chirp, birb.


End file.
